Where would our legislators and state agency heads be without I-695? They would have nowhere to run, no place to hide. I-695 has been the scapegoat for politicians regarding transportation issues for nearly a decade. The people of Washington sent a message to Olympia but no one was listening, that message wasn’t just about car taxes it was about fiscal responsibility.

But is has just been business as usual for all of these years, and when questioned as to why transportation is a mess, well just blame it on I-695. Get over it! At the turn of the century it was a new reality, now it’s just history and nothing has been learned. Union concessions, bad management and grandiose projects have been Olympia’s response to the wake up call. Where’s all of this change we’re promised, where’s the innovative thinking, where’s the restraint on unnecessary multi-billion dollar projects, where’s the plan? There is enough blame to go around so that fingers don’t have to be pointed.

I just read a few more articles in the Whidbey News-Times where politicians and want-to-be politicians resort to the “it’s all I-695’s fault” mentality. The people spoke years ago, get over it and get on with following through on your campaign promises.

Mike Lauver

Oak Harbor