The Puget Sound Regional Council will enter into two agreements for assistance with the eastside rail corridor study.

PSRC will be seeking the assistance of a Rail Corridor Preservation Advisor for help in determining what is involved in acquiring the 40-mile rail corridor that parallels Interstate 405 from Renton to Snohomish County. PSRC will also be entering into an agreement with King County for assistance in conducting land appraisal estimates for identifying the financial costs and institutional requirements related to rail corridor preservation for multiple transportation uses. The Board actively discussed and reinforced the broad range of potential uses of the preserved rail corridor. PSRC will work with all affected jurisdictions and interests through the study to ensure that all views on potential uses are heard and considered. This action initiates key tasks that were identified in the approved BNSF Corridor Study grant's scope of work that PSRC submitted to the USDOT last fall.

For more information, contact King Cushman at (206) 464-6174 or kcushman@psrc.org.

The Executive Board authorized a contract for consulting services for the least-cost planning work to be done in conjunction with the update of Destination 2030.

Least-cost planning provides cost-benefit analysis tool for determining the best use of resources to accommodate transportation demand. The least-cost planning framework will include an evaluation of regional transportation policies. The result should be a set of policies that will better aid and inform the decisions this region will face in the coming years.

For more information, contact Matthew Kitchen at (206) 464-6196 or mkitchen@psrc.org.

In other business, the Executive Board: