SEATTLE—In a kind of local version of Oscar Night, the region's "stars" took center stage on March 19 to receive the Puget Sound Regional Council's 1998 VISION 2020 Awards.
The five awards went to public and private efforts that show the region's growth management and transportation strategy in action: A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) in east King County; the Foothills Trail in Pierce County; Community Transit's New Merrill Creek Operations Base in Everett; Snohomish County Airport's Wetland Bank Compensation program; and a transportation study of the highway 305 corridor in Kitsap County.
"The VISION 2020 Award winners are outstanding examples of what cities and counties and the private sector can do to help achieve our regional strategy, and make the region a better place to live," said King County Councilmember Rob McKenna, who presented the awards. McKenna served as chair of the awards selection committee.
The awards were presented Thursday night at the Regional Council's General Assembly meeting at the Museum of Flight. The General Assembly is the annual meeting of all Regional Council members, which include King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties, 64 cities, three ports, and the Washington State Department of Transportation and Transportation Commission.
More information on each winner is presented below:
ARCH, A Regional Coalition for Housing, is a coalition of Eastside cities (Bellevue, Bothell, Issaquah, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Redmond and Woodinville) and King County that works to create affordable housing in east King County.
Some of the affordable housing projects resulting from ARCH's work include: Cambridge Court in Bellevue, which provides housing for low-income seniors; Riverside Landing, a 50-unit complex for low and moderate income seniors near downtown Bothell; and a former Coast Guard Housing site in Redmond that will be redeveloped to include transitional and entry-level housing, low-income housing through Habitat for Humanity, and a neighborhood park.
The Foothills Trail is a 26-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail project that will eventually link to other trails and communities throughout most of Pierce County, and connect to trail systems in Thurston and King counties. The trail is a public/private partnership between Pierce County Parks and the Foothills Rails-To-Trails Coalition, a non-profit volunteer organization with more than 1,200 members.
The New Merrill Creek Operations Base is a new transit base built on an abandoned quarry in an industrial center in Everett. Using an innovative "design/build" approach that incorporated land purchase, design, environmental mitigation, and construction for one price under one contract, the project was completed in only 10 months – ahead of schedule and under budget.
The base uses innovative environmental technology, which processes storm water run-off through a compost filtration vault. The project also included restoration of a stream that was severely damaged by previous mining activities.
The SR-305 Major Investment Study by Kitsap Transit and Parametrix is a successful model for involving a whole host of different government agencies and citizen groups in determining the future of a vital transportation corridor.
The study recommended improvements for all travel modes in the corridor, including improved transit service, intersection improvements, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The development of the study included an exceptional amount of outreach to local jurisdictions and community groups, and the study was unanimously adopted by each jurisdiction upon completion.
Snohomish County Airport's Wetland Bank Compensation Program is the first of its kind in Washington State, and meets the dual goals of environmental protection and economic development. The program streamlines the environmental permitting process, and provides advance environmental mitigation for development projects by creating, restoring and/or enhancing wetlands.
The VISION 2020 Awards annually honor innovative projects that help achieve VISION 2020, the region's adopted growth management, economic and transportation strategy. The policies in VISION 2020 call for protecting rural areas and other aspects of the natural environment; improving the connection between living and working places; promoting development in urban centers; and increasing opportunities to walk, bicycle or use public transit.