An email newsletter sent out by the Washington State Department of Transportation Eastern Region on Friday has this item of interest:

As I mentioned last month, our
pavement preservation program is steadily dwindling.  Over the next two
budget biennia, the statewide preservation funds will shrink by 52%. 



Here in our seven-county region,
after this construction season is complete, we will still have a paving backlog
of about $75 million.  We have a reasonably sized
asphalt paving program this season, but our chip seal mileage is significantly
smaller.  We are sealing 80 miles of highway this year, down from 105 in
2013 and 150 in 2012.


Our future paving program shows
significantly fewer paving projects in the next two biennia based on current
revenue.  This will result in drivers seeing (and feeling) a noticeable
continuing decline in the quality of our highway system.

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