The state Senate has passed a bill that would make it a primary offense to drive while talking on a cell phone and to text while driving.

Currently, under state law, it’s a secondary offense, which means that police can ticket you for it but they have to initially pull you over for another violation. Many have called it a failure, because, frankly, you see people everywhere talking on their cell phones while driving (Note: under existing law, and the proposed law, a hands-free device is legal to talk with).

The bill, SB 6345, would also make it illegal for anyone with an instructional or intermediate driving permit to use a phone at all. It would allow transit drivers to use handheld devices.

Click here to see the bill report (click on the first link in the text).

It was introduced on Jan. 12 and it passed the Senate on Feb. 5 by a vote of 33 in favor, 15 against. Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Whatcom County, and Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, both voted for the bill.

Click here to see more information about the bill.

A similiar bill in the House has already had a hearing, but it hasn’t come up for a full House vote yet. Click here to see information on the House bill.

Thanks to my co-worker Sam Taylor for letting me know about this bill and its passage.

British Columbia has already made it illegal to drive and talk on you phone without a hands-free device or text while driving. As of Feb. 1, it was being enforced by police up there because the one-month grace period ended.

Drivers may find some delays and lane closures around Lakeway Drive and Ellis Street starting next week, as contractors begin work on sewer lines in the area.

The work starting next week will affect Lakeway from Ellis to around East Maple Street. Here is a map:

There will also be some work in the alley between Railroad and Cornwall avenues in downtown. Here is a map:

The work is part of a larger project to repair and replace sewer facilities in 2009 and 2010. Tiger Construction is doing the $1.8 million project.

Click here to see more on the project.

Interwest Construction has yet another low bid for a state Department of Transportation project in Whatcom County.

The Burlington-based companies bid for the project to relocate a portion of the Mount Baker Highway and build a bridge was 23 percent below the state engineer’s estimate. The company bid $2.14 million for the work.

The project involves moving less than half a mile of the highway east of Glacier away from the Nooksack River. It also involves replacing a culvert at Chain-up Creek with a bridge. The project should prevent flooding from damaging and closing the highway in the future.

The project will begin this year.

Click here to see more about the project.

Click here to see the bid results (it’s the third item down). It doesn’t look like they’ve awarded the contract yet.

The DOT today announced that it awarded the contract to build roundabouts and work on Interstate 5 in Blaine to Interwest. The company was recently awarded the contract to build roundabouts at the Chuckanut Drive-I-5 interchanges in Burlington. It’s currently working for the city of Bellingham to build the roundabout at the northbound I-5 off-ramp at Northwest Avenue.

The state Department of Transportation awarded the contract to build the roundabouts at the Interstate 5 ramps at Blaine D Street to Interwest Construction.

The DOT today awarded the $2.77 million contract to the Burlington-based company. The project also involves work on nearby I-5.

Click here to see my last post on this topic.

Click here to see the bid results (it’s the fifth item down).

Click here to read the Bellingham City Council’s resolution in support of passing the sales tax increase for Whatcom Transportation Authority.

The council will hold a hearing on it at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8, in City Council Chambers, 210 Lottie St.

Also, the group in support of passage of the April 27 measure, Transit Works, has a new Web site. Click here to visit it.

All of the trains up to Vancouver, B.C. during the Olympic time period are running an average of 109 passengers per trip, which is about 45 percent of the total train capacity.

That’s according to the latest numbers, sent to me by Andrew Wood, a deputy director at the state Department of Transportation rail and marine office. The numbers came out last night.

Amtrak is running two trips per day to Vancouver through the Olympics, which start Friday, Feb. 12 and run through the end of the month. The second daily train is temporary but could become permanent, depending on if enough people ride it.

The busiest trips are on the first northbound trains on the first several days of the games. You won’t get a seat on that train on the day of the opening games, Friday, Feb. 9, or the next day. You also won’t get a seat on Thursday, Feb. 18, Friday, Feb. 19, or Saturday, Feb. 20.

The quietest train is on the second northbound train on Saturday, Feb. 27, when only 23 people have purchased tickets to ride.

Click here to see the data.

Train numbers key:

Train 510 = First daily train northbound (Seattle to Vancouver)
516 = Second daily train northbound (Portland to Vancouver)
517 = Second daily southbound train (Vancouver to Seattle)
513 = First daily southbound train (Vancouver to Portland)

Starting Friday and lasting through the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, border crossers will be able to cross at the Lynden crossing three hours earlier in the day than usual.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection just announced that the Lynden (Aldergrove) crossing will open starting at 5 a.m. from Friday, Feb. 5, through Sunday, Feb. 28. Normally it opens at 8 a.m.

It’ll still close at the normal time, midnight.

The Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Sumas and Point Roberts crossings are already 24-hour crossings.

Frank Ordway, the former chairman of the city’s Planning Commission, has been appointed the chairman of the city’s new Transportation Commission.

I was just glancing over the minutes from the January meeting of the new advisory body, and I also saw that members of the former Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (both the Parking Commission and BPAC were dissolved with the creation of this new, all-encompassing Transportation Commission) are recommending moving forward with a Complete Street policy.

I’m thinking I’ll write about local discussions on Complete Streets. The idea behind the Complete Streets campaign is that streets are for more than just vehicle traffic; they’re also for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit.

It’s coming up more and more locally. The BPAC is recommending looking at it, and an advisory committee at the Whatcom Council of Governments, a transportation planning agency, is also exploring joining the movement. Lastly, a bill that was introduced in Olympia would require the state Department of Transportation to incorporated complete streets type ideas when it improves highways through cities. It would also set up a grant program for local governments that want to do complete streets-type projects.

Click here to see my last post on the bill.

Click here to see the minutes from the last commission meeting.

Click here to see more about the Complete Streets Coalition.

At least four states have new laws that crack down on people who break the law by parking in disabled parking spots without a permit.

Click here to read the article in USA Today.

In Bellingham, a disabled parking infraction is a $250 fine.

According to the article, a California law now lets local jurisdicitions increase the fines for disabled parking violations to $1,000. San Francisco just raised its from $100 to $750.

The Bellingham Transportation Commission will meet next Tuesday to consider the City Council resolution in support of the sales tax increase for Whatcom Transportation Authority.

The commission, an advisory body, will discuss the resolution at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, in the Mayor’s Boardroom, 210 Lottie St.