Councilmember Richard McIver, Chair, introduced incoming members of the Transportation Policy Board. They are: Councilmember Terry Faherty - City of Edgewood, representing Pierce County Cities and Towns; Mayor William Harrison - City of Lakewood, alternate for Pierce County Cities and Towns; Councilmember David Simpson - City of Everett, alternate for Metropolitan Center - Everett; David Dye, alternate for the Department of Transportation; Clifford Benson, representing the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board; Dan O'Neal, alternate for the Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board; Tom Gaetz, representing Associated General Contractors, Jeff Levere, alternate for Associated General Contractors; Randy Bannecker, representing the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce; Jim Hutchinson, alternate for the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce; Cynthia Putnam, alternate for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington; Luella Wells, representing the League of Women Voters of Kitsap County; Luis Moscoso, representing the Washington State Labor Council; and Darrell Chapman, alternate for the Washington State Labor Council.

Councilmember McIver presented three of the five outgoing members who were present at the meeting with a plaque. Helena Kennedy Smith, Virginia Gunby and Bill LaBorde came forward for recognition of their participation and successful completion of Destination 2030. Councilmember Linda Bird, and Ed Treizenburg will receive their plaque by mail.

Release of the Draft Major Amendment for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Public Review and Comments

The purpose of this action is to provide public review for projects needing regional air quality analysis prior to approval. A major TIP action to approve these projects after public review will occur in September. The next major project competition for federal funds will take place in 2002. The Board unanimously approved the release.

Certification of Local Plan Amendment for Cities of Kenmore and Woodway

The City of Kenmore incorporated in August 1998 and completed their plan by March of 2001, 16 months earlier than is required. The plan is consistent and thorough, with clear priorities for use of public resources. Among their goals is a range of home prices, a pedestrian-centered city center with well managed and safe streets, sidewalks, trails and transit connections. Regional Council staff recommended full approval and certification for Kenmore's plan.

The City of Woodway had adopted their plan in 1994, but it had not met the certification requirements. They .recently were able to work with a consultant to complete the plan and have now met the requirements for certification. They are a very small city and anticipate a growth of 15 people by 2012. Among the areas of their focus is traffic calming and non-motorized connections. Regional Council staff recommended the plan for the City of Woodway's plan certification. The Transportation Policy Board unanimously approved that the Transportation Elements of the Comprehensive Plans for the City of Kenmore and for the City of Woodway to be sent to the Executive Board for final approval.

Presentation by Senator Jim Horn and Dr. Bill Eager on Congestion in Central Puget Sound - "Fixing it Now"

Late last year, Senator Horn had asked Councilmember McIver for an opportunity to give additional discussion time on the topic of congestion. With the schedule now allowing for a more extensive presentation and discussion, Senator Horn was invited to do this at the August 9 meeting.

Senator Horn introduced the topic and commented that not all will agree with his interpretation or his ideas on solutions for the problem of congestion in our region, but he hopes to continue discussions on the subject from all directions in hopes of reaching a broader understanding of the issues and complexities of congestion, thus leading to even more well-informed decisions for future investments. Senator Horn introduced Dr. Bill Eager, TDA, Inc., who had prepared an analysis of data already available from the Regional Council and other partner sources that tests the hypothesis that sprawl is a major contributor to traffic congestion and, since density is the opposite of sprawl, greater density should reduce congestion. Dr. Eager explained that he believes, based on his analysis of data, that density causes congestion and that moving people from their cars to transit, rail or other means of getting from one place to another would not happen in a significant enough amount to relieve congestion, even over many decades. He stated concern about the lack of additional capacity being proposed to be built into our region's highway system. Dr. Eager determined that it is extremely unlikely that the central Puget Sound region will ever achieve the level of density that would make a significant increase in transit ridership as he shows that in looking at other urban areas that this would require over 5,600 people per square mile. The region currently has 2,200 people per square mile, with growth not being anticipated to reach the 5,600 level by 2020. Dr. Eager also stated that road needs would continue to grow until density reaches 30,000 persons per mile. In conclusion to the presentation, Dr. Eager suggested more investments in roads and making the transit share less, in proportion to the percentage of daily per-person trips. In summary, he supports completing the planned state highway system and improving the efficiency of the investments with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This means adding 4 percent more lanes to our roadway lane-miles (on freeways/expressways and principal arterials only) and he believes these measures will reduce congestion.

The presentation generated lively discussion with questions and comments from many Board members. King Cushman noted that this objective and the recently adopted Destination 2030 plan are very consistent, though Destination 2030 goes a little further and proposes about a 5 percent increase in freeway and principal roadway lane miles.

Councilmember McIver thanked Senator Horn and Dr. Eager and suggested that further discussions on congestion would be included in future meetings.

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