WSDOT takes environmental stewardship seriously
We’re doing our part for the environment in many ways…
WSDOT conducts its business in ways that protects our natural resources and prevents pollution wherever reasonably possible. We avoid, minimize and mitigate negative environmental impacts from our projects. Environmental components are built into WSDOT’s everyday operations including construction, maintenance and ferry activities. Here are some WSDOT activities which contribute to a cleaner, greener planet:
Addressing Climate Change and Protecting Air Quality
In Washington, the transportation sector accounts for nearly half (over 45 percent) of the greenhouse gas emissions. WSDOT is working in partnership with the Governor’s Climate Action Team and is focusing efforts on the state’s targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
WSDOT is developing measurable and balanced emission reduction strategies to create more efficient driving conditions, reduce the amount of driving, and introduce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Our approach to “Moving Washington,” through adding capacity strategically, operating efficiently, and managing demand, supports efforts to reduce emissions.
Support transportation options: WSDOT proudly stands on a 30-year record of supporting carpooling, vanpooling, and transit through the funding, building, and maintenance of the freeway HOV system, and continues its nationally-recognized Transportation Demand Management and Commute Trip Reduction programs. These programs all help to reduce the number of vehicles on the roadway during peak congestion and help reduce total vehicle miles traveled.
HOV lanes, or High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, create alternatives that are more attractive than driving alone. HOV lanes enable commuters to get to work more quickly, and provide an incentive to take the bus, carpool, or vanpool anytime during the day. The HOV lanes also help buses stay on schedule and also provide access for emergency vehicles when needed.
- Every two-person carpool reduces the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions created by that trip in about half.
- Every eight-person vanpool reduces the amount of GHG emissions created by that trip by about 88 percent
- A full bus can reduce a trip’s GHG emissions by 99 percent.
Bicycling and walking: On average, WSDOT adds more than 20 miles of new sidewalk, trails and paths each year. A recent federal study showed that when bicycle and pedestrian safety increases, total vehicle miles traveled is reduced by an estimated 156.1 million miles over the course of a year. These investments can mean savings of more than $23 million in fuel costs, and 67,000 metric tons of reductions in CO2 emissions.
Rail: As gas prices continue to rise, ridership on the state-sponsored Amtrak Cascades continues to grow. Ridership on the Amtrak Cascades in 2007 was 676,760, a 7.4 percent increase over 2006.
No-idle policy: Public fleet vehicles frequently travel in and near population centers on local roadways. They stop and idle near homes, and they park and load near building air intake systems. With updated engines and fuels, today’s diesel engines emit less than older engines. WSDOT maintenance vehicles and equipment improve air emission performance in six different ways with upgraded equipment, new fuels, and thoughtful operation. In 2006, WSDOT adopted a no-idle policy to reduce fuel use and vehicle emissions. We estimate by reducing vehicle idling by 50 percent, we can save as much as $500,000 annually in fuel costs.
LED lights: Currently, the arrow boards and warning beacons used to direct and warn motorists in construction areas and around closed highway lanes can only run when the vehicle is idling. The light emitting diode (LED) technology uses far less energy and can run on battery power for 24 hours or more, which allows operators to use the warning lights and arrow boards with their engines shut down. More than 200 vehicles have been outfitted with LED lights, saving an estimated 121,000 gallons of fuel annually. We estimate that each year this will reduce roughly 4.4 tons of air pollutants and eliminate about 800 tons of carbon dioxide.
Fuel-efficient vehicles: WSDOT gives priority to hybrid, high-mileage, fuel-efficient, or low-emission vehicles when replacing passenger vehicles in its fleet. In FY2007, we replaced part of our fleet with 86 low-emission vehicles and four high-mileage vehicles.
Incident Response Team (IRT) – WSDOT has 55 Incident Response vehicles that patrol 500 miles of highway to clear blocking incidents quickly and safely. IRT clears 98.6 percent of all incidents in less than 90 minutes, reducing the amount of time motorists spend sitting and idling in traffic.
Reducing diesel emissions: In 2005, WSDOT started using five percent biodiesel (B5) mixed with regular diesel in maintenance vehicles operating in the Central Puget Sound area. Currently, 25 WSDOT fueling stations have 10 percent biodiesel (B10) available and we plan to have 20 percent biodiesel (B20) available this summer depending on availability.
Cleaner running vehicles: In 2007, WSDOT began fitting about 260 vehicles with filtering devices on either or both the exhaust system or the engine crankcase. The diesel oxidation catalyst (working much like a catalytic converter on passenger vehicles) and the closed crankcase ventilation system will reduce diesel particulate emissions by 30 to 40 percent. Vehicles include dump trucks, loaders, sweepers, and bucket trucks. These filters will result in an annual reduction of approximately 2.1 tons of air pollutants.
Using Biodiesel in Ferries: Each year, the state ferry system burns approximately 17 million gallons of diesel fuel on its ferries, making the agency a significant fuel consumer in Puget Sound. In March 2008, WSF began a pilot project that will test the use of biodiesel in the marine environment. Using biodiesel instead of traditional petroleum-based fuels reduces emission of particulate matter and greenhouse gases, which impact air quality and the Earth’s climate.
Avoiding and minimizing environmental and habitat disturbance
No net loss policy – WSDOT works hard to avoid and minimize disturbing habitats. When highway construction projects create unavoidable impacts to wetlands and habitats, we enhance, restore, create or preserve habitats.
Wetlands – Since 1988, WSDOT has created 158 replacement wetland sites totaling 890 acres. These replacement sites can take a number of years to become self-sustaining and so WSDOT monitors and manages them for a period of years to ensure their success. During 2007, monitoring began on 21 new replacement sites, which total 149 acres.
Fish passage – WSDOT began a program to remove barriers to fish, such as highway culverts, in 1991. Since then, we have evaluated all the culverts on the 7,045 miles of the highway system in order to identify which ones are barriers, and to prioritize the corrections that have the most benefit to fish. As of May 2007, we have removed 205 culverts that were barriers to fish, opening access to 480 miles of fish habitat.
Lights for fish - Structures like ferry docks cast shadows over the waters near shore and affect the migration of juvenile fish. Because the small fish are used to bright water, they avoid the dark areas and maneuver around the structures, driving them into deeper water where they are more likely to become prey for other fish and birds. To counter this effect, WSDOT is conducting research that uses a fiber-optic lighting system under the Port Townsend Ferry Terminal to encourage fish to migrate under the structure.
Reducing animal kill - Approximately 3,000 collisions occur yearly with deer and elk on state highways. These collisions can result in serious injuries and fatalities to motorists. They are also a significant source of wildlife deaths and may restrict animal movements through habitats and may reduce local herd sizes. We are doing research to identify high risk locations for animal-vehicle collisions. The results will help us to prioritize locations that need special attention to protect both motorists and wildlife.
Habitat connectivity – Habitat and wildlife movement is an important consideration when developing transportation facilities. Wildlife need to move across the landscape and highway corridors for seasonal migration, access to food and to establish new territories as the young mature. WSDOT is working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify wildlife corridors where there is significant wildlife movement. These corridors will be considered during transportation planning, project development and maintenance operations. One of the ways we are protecting wildlife from highway collisions is through the use of Wildlife fencing and testing.
Historic and cultural preservation - WSDOT makes every effort to avoid impacts to historic structures and archaeological sites. When impacts cannot be avoided, we consult with tribes and other state and federal agencies to minimize disturbance and mitigate effects. Cultural resources are archaeological sites, historic structures (such as buildings and bridges) and areas of traditional cultural importance to tribes or other communities.
Vegetation management - Roadside vegetation management involves both caring for and controlling plants along the highway. WSDOT uses herbicides in combination with mechanical, manual and biological methods to control vegetation along roadsides through an ongoing process called Integrated Vegetation Management. If managed properly, roadside vegetation can become self-sustaining over time and require less maintenance. This helps reduce maintenance costs and minimizes herbicide use.
Limited herbicide use - Herbicides are efficient and effective tools for managing weeds and controlling unwanted plant growth. However, WSDOT recognizes there may be potential impacts to health and the environment, and minimizes herbicide use wherever possible. WSDOT uses herbicides to maintain a vegetation-free strip at the edge of the pavement where necessary and to selectively control and eliminate undesirable plants. In 2007, we reduced herbicide use by 20 percent.
Protecting water quality
Stormwater management – Stormwater runoff is rain and snow melt that runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots. If left untreated, water running off these impervious surfaces may pick up pollutants such as oil, fertilizers, pesticides, soil, trash, and animal waste and carry them to rivers and streams. WSDOT is working with the State Department of Ecology on a new stormwater permit that will expand our current stormwater management program over a larger geographic area. WSDOT-owned facilities make up approximately 40,000 acres of paved surfaces, which include roadway surfaces, park and ride lots, ferry terminals, safety rest areas and maintenance yards.
Erosion control during construction – When construction of transportation facilities disturb soils, crews prevent erosion at these sites by spreading straw, planting grass, building ponds and other measures. Construction areas that have a high potential for erosion control due to the project area’s size, steepness, soil type or proximity to waterways are inspected by WSDOT weekly.
Enhancing the roadside environment
Litter control – WSDOT coordinates a volunteer army of 1,400 groups involved in its Adopt-A-Highway program. These volunteers pick up trash from sections of state highway several times each year. In 2006, Adopt-A-Highway, Department of Ecology Youth Corps, and others picked up 6,540,444 pounds of litter from state highways, which WSDOT disposed of at a cost of $2,094,203.
Graffiti removal – WSDOT has one full-time graffiti patrol operating in the Puget Sound area, which relies on reports from drivers, city workers and others to call attention to graffiti trouble spots on state highways and bridges. The graffiti clean-up crew typically has a 48-hour turnaround time after they receive a report. The goal is to clean up small graffiti problems as quickly as possible before it becomes a big problem. In other areas of the state, our Maintenance workers tackle graffiti as schedules and workloads allow.
Scenic byways – Washington has a system of scenic byways that pass through the state’s varied terrain, reflecting on the scenic, cultural and historic landscapes. The Scenic Byways program is a grassroots, collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States. Certain roads have been designated as America’s Byways – All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways – based on one or more archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic intrinsic qualities. Scenic byways offer the traveler interpretive and educational opportunities along the way.
Roadside restoration – If a transportation project disturbs the roadside areas, WSDOT restores the landscape according to the characteristics of the surrounding area. For example, in an urban setting, we may restore the roadside to have a park-like appearance, whereas in a forested area, we would plant vegetation to blend in with the natural growth. Using native plants in roadside restoration will over the long term reduce maintenance requirements and costs. Native plant communities, once established, reduce soil erosion and will out-compete many weeds and undesirable plants that would otherwise be mowed or sprayed. A recent example of roadside restoration is SR 18 in the Maple Valley of King County.
Conserving resources
Small changes, such as turning down the thermostat a few degrees and shutting down computers when not in use, can make a big difference when it comes to conservation. These are just a few of the ways WSDOT is reducing energy and conserving resources.
Electricity – Newer, more energy efficient technologies, appliances and equipment have contributed to reducing WSDOT’s electricity use by 22 percent, or 24 million kilowatt hours since fiscal year 2003 to fiscal year 2007.
- Many WSDOT buildings have motion detecting light systems that turn lights off when no one is in the room
- Our equipment shops are also equipped with automatic trip switches that turn off heaters when bay service doors are open
- Agency computers have new software installed with power-saving features. The software detects idle machines and puts them into stand-by mode to reduce power consumption. WSDOT expects a nearly 50 percent savings of its annual power cost for PCs
- LED lights in traffic signals – By replacing the existing 12 inch incandescent lights in traffic signals WSDOT reduces its electricity consumption annually from 31,600 kilowatt hours (KWH) to 4,744 KWH
Natural Gas – WSDOT reduced its agency wide use of natural gas by 2.4 percent since fiscal year 2003. Some region offices have seen greater reductions as a result of upgrading heating and ventilation systems. For example, in the Southwest Region headquarters in Vancouver, a heating and ventilation improvement project contributed to reductions in electricity use of 10.5 percent and natural gas consumption of 8.6 percent.