City of Renton's Urban Center - North Comprehensive Plan Amendments
Sponsored by: The City of Renton and The Boeing Company

The City of Renton's work to amend its comprehensive plan to broaden the land uses allowed on the Boeing Company land in the northern part of the city's urban center. The amendments address environmental, transportation and infrastructure concerns to help ease the transition from less heavy industrial and manufacturing use to more urban and residential uses.


East Main Street Design Strategy
Sponsored by: The City of Sumner

An incremental strategy to turn a former state highway into a pedestrian friendly extension of Sumner's historic downtown. The strategy resulted in design guidelines and improved zoning regulations that are focused on improving the pedestrian environment and traffic calming. Shortly after adoption, Fred Meyer and Mt. Rainier National Bank built facilities that helped to implement the strategy.


Economic Development Plan and Bickford Avenue Subarea
Sponsored by: The City of Snohomish

A detailed economic development strategy for five different land use districts in the City of Snohomish. The plan determines markets, strategies, designs and implementation particulars that would be effective and publicly supported in the 5 districts. It incorporates mixed-use development, incubator business, and cottage industry concepts and will increase land use development efficiency and employee density within the districts. The strategy will consolidate ownership and management of the Cemetery Creek corridor to improve its environment for salmon and provide public use of some adjoining historical farmland.


Greenbrier Heights
Sponsored by: King County and the City of Woodinville

A great new neighborhood built on King County surplus property, featuring affordable housing as well as 11 acres of dedicated wetlands and wildlife habitat. The range of housing includes rental units for low-income seniors, rental units for low-income families, as well as moderate-income owner units and cottage housing, all of which have been extremely popular. The neighborhood includes a park, trails, and a community center.




Model Permit System
Sponsored by: The Economic Development Council of Snohomish County

A suite of process improvements that improved the predictability, efficiency and collaboration of land use actions in four Snohomish County cities. The new process clarified permit application requirements and improved communication between applicants and the jurisdictions through the use of checklists, templates, and workflow management. Permitting was accelerated by an average of 33% and in one case permitting time was cut in half.




Redmond Trip Reduction Incentive Program
Sponsored by: The Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association, City of Redmond, and King County Metro

The Redmond Trip Reduction Incentive Program is a public-private partnership to increase mobility options. Recent program expansions include a new website and the addition of the R-Rewards Commuter Club, which provides a $50 Visa gift card to commuters who bike, walk or carpool. R-TRIP is the nation's first publicly sponsored program to combine a commuter club, rewards program, and a dynamic commute mode tracking tool, all accessible on the Web.


University Way Multimodal Project
Sponsored by: The Seattle Department of Transportation, the King County Department of Transportation, The Ave Group, and the Greater University Chamber of Commerce.

The University Way Multimodal Project is a key part of the efforts to revitalize the University District neighborhood of Seattle. These street improvements feature the region's first in-lane bus stops which have improved access on one of the city's busiest pedestrian and transit corridors. The improvements have also created a safer and friendlier environment for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, business proprietors and their customers. This project has brought the community, businesses, the city, and the county together providing a platform for further accomplishments in the area.


The committee also wanted to recognize a handy new device that will encourage the efficient use of the region's road system:

TrafficGauge
Sponsored by: TrafficGauge and the Washington State Department of Transportation This hand held device is the nation's first real time, in vehicle traffic map. It connects to the Washington State Department of Transportation's traffic flow data to provide current congestion and incident information, giving drivers the opportunity to choose an alternate route to their destination.


For more information about the VISION 2020 Award winners, contact Michele Leslie, 206-587-4819, mleslie@psrc.org.