Port and partners look to Washington transportation budget for US 12 funds

A coalition of advocates working to complete the four lanes of U.S. 12 between Walla Walla and Tri-Cities is looking to the Washington state transportation budget to lock in needed funding.

Meagan Blair, the Port of Walla Walla’s governmental affairs and community outreach specialist, said that to retain a historic $108.5 million federal grant for the project, the Port needs a 20% local match and enough funds to complete the project, which is estimated to be $351 million.

The Port and partners, including the city of Walla Walla’s City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlain, are asking the state Legislature for $25 million annually for three years, for a total of $75 million, to get them there.

About $25 million of that would serve as the local match for the federal grant. The remaining $50 million would set the coalition up with matching funds to make other federal grant applications more competitive, Blair and Chamberlain said.

To sweeten the deal, the Port of Walla Walla is considering a right-of-way donation of about 200 acres of Port-owned land. The area of potentially donated land is near Wallula and Wallula Junction, where Highway 730 and U.S. 12 meet.

“We have heard that in other projects there have been contributions by local governments or ports,” Blair said in an interview. “In the event that we're asked about a contribution, we just wanted to see if our commissioners were willing to consider that contribution.”

Whether that contribution would be in the form of donating the right-of-way to Port-owned land or other offerings, Blair said she didn’t know. The acreage is also subject to change.

“We're trying to get as many tools in the toolbox as possible so that we can get the road completed,” Blair said.

Port Commissioners Kip Kelly, Amy Schwab and Ron Dunning verbally supported allowing a future right-of-way donation for the U.S. 12 project during the Thursday, April 10, meeting.

The coalition has been communicating with state and local lawmakers about the funding needs of the project, including submitting comments and taking meetings with transportation leaders, Chamberlain said. But getting funds from the state is still uncertain.

The state Senate and House have each passed a transportation package, but neither funded the U.S. 12 project to the requested level.

The Senate proposal allocated $5 million in the 2025-27 biennium and $45 million in the 27-29 biennium, Chamberlain said, while the House proposal did not allocate any funding for the project.

An amendment to the Senate bill by Walla Walla Rep. Skyler Rude to add $50 million in 2025-27 and an additional $25 million in the 2027-29 biennium was shot down.

“The reason that this amendment is time sensitive is because out of this project that had eight phases, we are on eight right now,” Rude said in his floor speech on Wednesday, April 2. “Our U.S. senators, Sen. Murray and Sen. Cantwell, have also been working on this and were able to secure a federal (grant) of $108 million. If we don’t act, we risk losing that $108 million.”

Rep. Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla, also supported the amendment on the House floor. He said in an interview that because the Senate did mention the U.S. 12 project in its bill — though without a specific dollar amount — it will be a topic of conversation as Transportation Committee leadership negotiates the plans into a single proposal.

“I do understand that the Port of Walla Walla has been working, and I think even negotiating, to try to find a solution,” Klicker said.

Blair said the funding from the Legislature is integral to getting the funds needed to complete the project. She said she is not worried that the Port will lose the federal funding for any other reason.

“I know there's some people who are worried about losing funding. I'm not worried that that (federal) funding is going to be lost for any other reason, other than the fact that we can't complete the project,” she said.

The scope of the project includes completing a four-lane highway, and the coalition still has a funding gap to cross to make that happen, Blair said.

“The only reason I think we would lose the $108.5 million is because the state couldn't come up with any matching funds, and then we couldn't go after additional funds to complete the project,” she said. “Nothing is certain. We're just trying. The Port is working diligently with our partners to get this project complete.”