Tagged: Transportation

KOMO 4 Television broadcast a story showing workers on the 520 Bridge construction project drinking on the job. Washington State Department of Transportation is launching an investigation looking into the details.

KOMO’s story caught employees walking into work carrying two twelve packs of beer on a Friday afternoon. Hidden cameras also showed several workers swigging back bottles of beer at their desks, allegedly during work hours.

The workers are employees of KGM, a joint venture firm of Kiewit, General and Manson. The company won the bid to design and build the 520 floating bridge. The contract is worth $586 million.

WSDOT Communications Director Steve Pierce says the company is highly regarded. He isn’t worried about the quality of their work.

A new bus service in the Northwest makes some eye-catching promises: Extra legroom, non-stop service between major cities, and fares starting at just a dollar. Boltbus could change the way people travel between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Correspondent Chris Lehman wanted to see which is better: Boltbus or an Amtrak train.

Senator Maria Cantwell and Spokane’s Mayor Condon implore the U.S. Department of Transportation to offer a grant for the North Spokane Corridor.

US Senator Cantwell says the corridor is the missing link in the Eastern Washington transportation system.

“In fact the North Spokane Corridor is my top project priority and so that’s why we are here today, to say that we want to see this funding.”

Fresh snow in the mountains has slightly delayed the reopening of one high mountain pass in the Washington Cascades. Highway crews are on track to reopen two other scenic cross state routes before Memorial Day. Correspondent Tom Banse reports the snowpack is deeper than average for this time of year in Washington, north Idaho and the northern Oregon Cascades.

Oregon drivers have an extra week before they must remove studded tires from their vehicles. The Oregon Department of Transportation extended the season through April 9th. The traditional deadline is April 1.
Weather forecasts are calling for difficult driving conditions in snow zones during the first week of April.

Competition in the nascent market for person-to-person car rentals is heating up. The latest entrant regionally says it can help any car owner in the Northwest temporarily rent their wheels to a friend or stranger.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - The state of Washington is opening the door to a new flavor of car rental, as Oregon and California have already done. The Washington Legislature just voted to tweak the auto insurance rules so you can rent your wheels to friends or strangers when you're not using your car yourself.