A third of urban highways in Washington are in poor condition, a quarter of the state's bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete and the state transportation department faces a backlog of $1.8 billion backlog in "pavement preservation," according to a report released this week by TRIP, a Washington, D.C.- based and industry-backed transportation research group.

Standing near the partly completed North Spokane Corridor, Carolyn Bonifas Kelly, the group's associate director of research and communications, called on officials to make transportation infrastructure funding a priority "at all levels." She said that Washington's roads, especially in rural areas, are dangerous. The report says that the state's broken roads cost motorists about $2.9 billion each year in vehicle damage, repair costs, tire wear and increased fuel consumption.

Beth Thew, secretary-treasurer with the Spokane Regional Labor Council, echoed Kelly's call, and said transportation funding was "all about jobs." She noted that she wasn't referring simply to construction jobs, but increasing connectivity in Spokane for "jobs of the future."

Thew suggested that the report made her think of more than simply employment.

"When I'm driving over a bridge, I don't want to go, 'Is this bridge safe or not?'" she said.

The report comes as the state Legislature debates a $15 billion transportation plan, funded by an 11.7 cent gas tax increase. Cheryl Stewart, executive director of the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors, called on local legislators to unite in support for the $1 billion in Spokane projects in the Legislature's transportation plan.

"They have to deal with it now," she said. "We need to make sure they are fighting for the projects in our area. We need them all to fight for it."

Stewart said Republican state senators Michael Baumgartner, Mark Schoesler and Curtis King have done well in pushing eastern Washington transportation priorities. On the state House side, she would only say that Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, sits on the transportation committee.