Download the Full Report | Offer Your Advice
Download the Full Report | Offer Your Advice
SEATTLE—A plan to make traffic better in the central Puget Sound region is a few months away from being finalized.
The Puget Sound Regional Council is inviting people living in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties to get involved in shaping a long-range regional transportation plan called Destination 2030. The formal public comment period on options for the plan continues through October 20th.
To stimulate public discussion of transportation choices, the Regional Council has released an analysis of three broad alternatives for the plan that shows results ranging from major gridlock to real traffic relief. The environmental analysis contains information that shows how the three future alternatives perform in terms of congestion relief, air quality and other measures.
"All of the potential tools to fix congestion are on the table. We are developing a plan that will have a profound effect on the transportation system over the next 30 years, and need to hear advice from the people of Puget Sound on what they think should be in our final plan," says Seattle Councilmember Richard McIver, who chairs the region's Transportation Policy Board.
The alternatives range from doing the bare minimum – completing only those projects that are funded now – to doing significantly more: more roads, more transit, better traffic management, better linkages between land use and transportation, more money.
Each of the alternatives takes into account growth forecasts that the region will add 1.5 million more people and 800,000 new jobs over the next 30 years. With that many more people and jobs, the region can expect nearly 50 percent more traffic and more than double the transit riders – on buses, trains and ferries.
"The challenge ahead is to design a transportation system that works, while preserving the quality of life that makes the Puget Sound region so special. It's up to each of us to help shape Destination 2030 – our opinions are the essential building blocks of the plan, " says Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido, who chairs the region's Growth Management Policy Board.
Public participation this fall will help craft a final transportation plan comprised of the best elements of the three options studied.
How to Get Copies: The Metropolitan Transportation Plan Alternatives Analysis and Environmental Impact Statement is available on the Regional Council's Web site at psrc.org, or by contacting the Regional Council's Information Center, (206) 464-7532, e-mail: infoctr@psrc.org.
How to Comment: Written comments on the Destination 2030 alternatives should be sent to:
Mail:
Destination 2030
Puget Sound Regional Council
1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98104
E-mail: destination2030@psrc.org
Fax: (206) 587-4825
Community Meetings: The Regional Council is holding community meetings around the region in late September to help shape Destination 2030, the region's long-range transportation plan. See schedule for meeting places, dates and times.
The Regional Council develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth and transportation planning in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. The Council is composed of over 80 county, city, port, transit, tribal and state agencies serving the region. It receives about $100 million in federal transportation funds each year and coordinates, sets priorities, and evaluates the most efficient ways to target those funds to support state and local transportation and growth management plans.