Infrastructure
Washington DOT Says $8B Needed to Halt Infrastructure Decline
Agency warns that deferred maintenance on roads, bridges and ferries is nearing crisis as budgets fall short
Traffic moves across the State Route 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue. The 1960s-era corridor remains one of Washington State Dept of Transportation’s highest-cost preservation priorities as the agency warns of an $8 billion backlog in highway, bridge and ferry maintenance.
Washington transportation officials are sounding alarms over the state’s growing maintenance backlog. The State Dept. of Transportation said it needs about $8 billion over the next decade to preserve its highway, bridge and ferry assets—a figure officials concede is far beyond current funding levels.
The agency’s estimate, first outlined in its 2021–23 preservation budget request, reflects a 10-year backlog of deteriorating pavements, bridge decks and marine structures, officials told the Washington State Transportation Commission on Oct. 14-15.
Troy Suing, state DOT asset management chief, warned that “we are in the early stages of critical failure due to lack of funding … we are underfunded. We are forced to be reactive when we look at our assets right now.”
That urgency has revived debate among lawmakers who only months ago approved a new two-year transportation budget.
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State Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said Washington can finish projects and preserve infrastructure “only if our budget includes new revenue.”
State Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma), who chairs the House Transportation Committee, added that legislators are “taking the necessary steps to pay for [investments] and protect them for the long haul.”
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WSDOT | Capital Programs Overview 2025–27
The state DOT’s 2025-27 Capital Improvement and Preservation Program, released in October 2024, lists preservation and safety as “critical unfunded priorities.”
The agency’s 2024 Gray Notebook shows highway maintenance performance slipping to 2.03 on a 4.0 scale—the lowest in more than a decade—and estimates a $442-million operational shortfall over 10 years just to sustain current service.
State Sen. Curtis King (R-Yakima), Transportation Committee ranking member, said both parties recognize the system’s stress points. “Washington faces some serious transportation problems, from unsafe roads to a failing ferry system,” he said.
The strain is visible on the ground. the state DOT this month began six weekends of lane closures on Seattle’s I-5 Ship Canal Bridge to replace worn expansion joints, and crews reopened the White River Bridge on SR 410 on Oct. 16 after emergency repairs finished weeks ahead of schedule.
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“We made a commitment to reopen this bridge as quickly as possible,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in announcing the early completion. “People just want government to work. Together we can move fast and solve big problems.”
The state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee has pressed the state DOT to clarify preservation forecasting methods following a 2023 audit that cited inconsistent bridge-life assumptions.
Legislators are expected to revisit transportation appropriations when the 2026 session opens in January, and the state DOT plans to update its 10-year needs statement before year-end to reflect 2024 condition data and inflation adjustments.
Washington’s challenge reflects a national trend as other state DOTs confront rising upkeep costs after the surge of federal infrastructure spending. For the Washington agency, the calculus is immediate.
“When we don’t preserve the system, it affects everybody … there is no short-term fix when it comes to bridges,” Suing warned.
Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).
Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction and community issues, including finance, law and real estate. He has reported for Adweek and the San Diego Daily Transcript and led a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif. He served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and as managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage. At Engineering News-Record, Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure and megaprojects, regulatory developments and business trends across the U.S. and global construction sectors.
email: gottliebb@enr.com | office: (248) 786-1591
