Tweeters:
Please forward this far and wide around Washington State. Seattle
Audubon Society, as well as Audubon~Washington and other Audubon
chapters, are actively opposing this Initiative. I-745 MUST be defeated
to prevent more subsidized sprawl, more impervious surface in rural
areas, and the destruction of wildlife habitat all over Washington
State!

Vote NO on I-745 on election day!!

I-745, which will appear on the November Washington State ballot, would
mandate that 90% of all transportation funds, including
locally-generated public transit funds, go to statewide road projects.
I-745 will re-allocate over $100 million from city and state services
that currently fund everything from public education to public safety in
order to give tax exemptions for road construction costs. Known as the
'Son of I-695," I-745 claims to improve traffic by making road
construction and road maintenance the top priority of the state
transportation system.

In reality, the initiative will gut the mass-transit budget by an
estimated 50-75%, worsening traffic by forcing transit users into cars.
More roads will fuel and reinforce suburban sprawl housing developments
into rural and less-developed areas such as the Snoqualmie valley,
eating up wildlife habitat, openspace, forest resource lands, and
farmland. More roads and more cars will increase air pollution and
impervious surface area, producing more toxic runoff that degrade
salmon-bearing streams and wetlands. Less public transit will cripple
the poor, disabled, young, elderly, and the rest of the 33% of
Washington State residents that currently do not drive.

Here are some myths vs. reality surrounding Initiative 745:

MYTH
I-745 will ensure that the gas tax will go to roads instead of going to
the general fund.
REALITY
The gas tax already goes to roads. It doesn't go to the general fund.
Any claim to the contrary is false.

MYTH
90 percent of the people are just trying to drive their vehicle to work
or trying to take their kids to school.
REALITY
33 percent of the population does not drive. 40 percent of rush hour
trips are by transit.

MYTH
Since 1986, the state has built only 47 miles of new roads while our
population has skyrocketed.
REALITY
We have 37% more population since 1982, and 49% more highway miles.
We've built roads faster that people were born or moved in.


Current Opposition to Initiative 745:
For more information on the organized efforts to defeat I-745, and for
information on how you can volunteer just a few or hours of your time to
help defeat this Initiative, visit www.no745.org.

Like I-695 last year, organizations with many very different missions
are actively opposing I-745 and working to defeat it. A coalition of
labor, environmental, business, public interest and social service
organizations called Citizens for REAL Transportation Choices has been
formed to defeat this initiative:

1000 Friends of Washington
Action: Better City
Amalgamated Transit Union
Bicycle Alliance
Climate Solutions
Green Party of Seattle
League of Women Voters
of Washington
Lighthawk
Livable Communities Coalition
Port Blakely Tree Farms
National Audubon Society, Washington State
National Federation of the Blind
Seattle Audubon Society
Service Employees International Union
Sierra Club
Tahoma Audubon Society
Transportation Choices Coalition
Washington Conservation Voters
Washington Environmental Alliance for
Voter Education
Washington State Labor Council,
AFL-CIO
Washington Environmental Council
WashPIRG

Seattle Audubon Society opposes I-745 because the initiative would
promote traffic congestion by putting more cars on the road, fuel sprawl
development by building more roads into undeveloped areas, force urban
dwellers to subsidize this urban sprawl, reduce opportunities for
transit riders, degrade water and air quality, and directly destroy and
degrade wildlife habitat. For more information, please contact Helen
Ross, Conservation Coordinator at (206) 523-8243 x13.