February 8, 2001

Councilmember Richard McIver, Chair, TPB
Councilmember Dave Somers, Chair, GMPB

Overview of Draft Destination 2030 Plan
Council staff presented a revised Destination 2030 schedule. At the Policy Boards' joint meeting on March 8, and in accordance with the new schedule, the boards are scheduled to recommend a draft Destination 2030 plan for approval by the Executive Board.

Ralph Cipriani, Regional Council, presented an overview of the Draft Destination 2030 document. He referred the Policy Boards to a matrix identifying where each of the Policy Boards' previous recommendations had been addressed in the draft document. He noted that the Draft Destination 2030 represents a hybrid of the original three alternatives analyzed under the SEPA process. He noted that the Draft Destination 2030, in its current form, most closely resembles the "MTP Plus" alternative in the sense that it calls for significantly greater modal investments than the 1995 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

The Draft Destination 2030 builds upon current multicounty policies and supports implementation of the region's growth strategy, VISION 2020, along with local government growth plans. He noted that the projects and programs outlined in the Draft Destination 2030 were derived from local comprehensive plans, WSDOT's systems plans, and local/regional transit plans, reflecting a commitment made by the Policy Boards at the outset of the plan development process. The Draft Destination 2030 recognizes the significance of both development patterns and the pricing of transportation as two major influences on travel characteristics. These two factors will be addressed by the region in greater depth in coming years. It was pointed out that the Draft Destination 2030 provides far greater detail regarding both proposed program costs and revenues than the 1995 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and is in sync with the recommendations of Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation (BRCT).

Ralph assured the Policy Boards that Destination 2030's project lists can be modified in the future as changing circumstances and unforeseen needs arise. The major contribution of Destination 2030 will be to establish an overall framework for long-term transportation investing which will support multiple regional objectives. For further information on this topic, please contact Ralph Cipriani (206) 464-7122 or rcipriani@psrc.org.

City of Lakewood Comprehensive Plan Initial Certification
The Policy Boards heard a briefing on the City of Lakewood's Comprehensive Plan. Council staff reported that the transportation elements in the Lakewood comprehensive plan adequately address the transportation planning requirements of the Growth Management Act and the major policy areas of the 1995 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

The City of Lakewood adopted its Comprehensive Plan in July 2000. In their initial review of the city's draft Transportation Element, the Regional Council identified several areas that needed further detail or clarification for certification. In the spring of 2000, the City of Lakewood amended its draft plan and addressed many of these issues. Council staff highlighted the policy focus areas – controlling sprawl, protecting the environment, and creating a sense of place – and noted the adoption of a designated center and the commitment towards using design guidelines. For more information on this topic, contact Ivan Miller at (206) 464-7549 or imiller@psrc.org.

Request to Analyze an "All-bus" Alternative
Dick Nelson, transportation and land use consultant, expressed support for a full analysis of an "all-bus" alternative.

The Regional Council received a request from King County Councilmembers Maggi Fimia, Rob McKenna and Chris Vance to prepare an all-bus analysis as an additional alternative in the Destination 2030 plan development process. Council staff also received seven other similar requests as part of the formal public review process for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) alternatives.

The Board discussed three choices and selected the following option: Prepare a technical summary of the previous all-bus alternative analysis prior to adoption of Destination 2030. The Board also requested that the Council add qualification to this request and acknowledge new information that has been developed and indicate that the process that Sound Transit is going through will be included along with information on their work.

The Regional Council will coordinate with Sound Transit and other parties involved to organize a summary of technical information from previous extensive analysis of all-bus alternatives conducted in the 1990s and used by the Joint Regional Policy Committee (JRPC) and the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) as input to their formal alternative analysis process conducted under state and federal legislative requirements. The report will be made available prior to the Policy Boards' joint meeting on March 8, which is when the boards are scheduled to recommend a draft Destination 2030 plan for approval by the Executive Board. For more information on this topic, contact King Cushman at (206) 464-6175 or e-mail kcushman@psrc.org.

Ad hoc Subcommittee on Finance and Implementation Strategies
Councilmember Connie Marshall reported on the results of the February 7 meeting of the ad hoc subcommittee. The work of the committee in developing an investment and finance strategy has led to key ideas carried out throughout the draft plan. These key ideas are:

• Destination 2030 needs to focus on transportation systems that operate at a regionally significant scale and influence the region's long-term growth and development,
• Destination 2030 recognizes that regional systems require some ability to plan, prioritize, implement and fund at a regional scale,
• Destination 2030 must clearly articulate roles and responsibilities and lead to greater accountability in delivering measurable transportation benefits.

The committee agreed that the investment strategy should:

• Give top priority to effective maintenance, preservation and optimization for all modes in our transportation system,
• Retain a commitment to multimodal investments,
• Advance investments that complete critical missing links, particularly on our regional arterial and state highway system,
• Evaluate major system investments, for all modes, for cost effectiveness through regional and corridor level analysis, and
• Take initial steps to ensure that future investments are better linked to growth strategies and include measurable outcomes.

Discussion on Refinements
Sumner Sharpe, the boards' facilitator, led board members through each section of the Finance and Implementation Strategies to confirm that agreement was reached and to address outstanding questions and issues. Chapters 1 & 2 were agreed upon. On Chapter 3, the ad hoc committee recommended tightening extraneous wording, which will be brought to the board members at the March 8 meeting. A suggestion was made to change the title of Chapter 4 to include wording that would avoid the impression that it has already been evaluated. Tim Trohimovitch, on behalf of 1000 Friends, said that the Growth Management Policy Board has done an excellent job and that 1000 Friends believe the key is to link transportation and land use. Creating linkages can be reinforced in several ways, including rewarding good work by giving priority to centers where it has been done. Chapter 5 brought a comment by Councilmember Carter to include mention of roadway access to freight yards, which will be added in this section. The review of Chapter 6 involved considerable positive discussion and agreement to change the title to "Implementation Guidance and Actions." In Chapter 8, explained Kevin Murphy, the work program has been changed to add the monitoring process linking Destination 2030 with the two-year work program. For further information on this topic, please contact King Cushman at (206) 464-6174 or kcushman@psrc.org.