| Puget Sound Regional Council psrc.org | |
| Regional Coordination at work | |
| Transportation Policy Board and Growth Management Policy Board | |
|
April 12, 2007
The Transportation Policy Board established a Regional Traffic Operations Committee to serve as an advisory committee to the Transportation Policy Board. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users calls for greater emphasis on operations in transportation planning. National and regional studies have shown that projects that improve operations, such as traffic signal timing, can have huge returns - as much as 50:1. The Federal Highways Administration provided an assessment of the central Puget Sound region. This assessment identified regional traffic coordination as a key improvement that could benefit the central Puget Sound. The new advisory committee will focus on traffic signal coordination, regional traffic operations at the arterial and freeway levels, and Intelligent Transportation Systems. For more information, contact Robin Mayhew at 206-464-7537 or rmayhew@psrc.org. The Transportation Policy Board authorized staff to develop a grant application to submit to the Urban Partnership for SR 520 Bridge Replacement. The Urban Partnership program is a strategic part of the USDOT's program for combating congestion. There are 12 grant programs linked to this effort amounting up to $1.2 billion that could help up to five urban areas in the nation. The initial grant could be support Intelligent Transportation Systems, Value Pricing and transit. The current proposal assumes the innovative use of tolling, technology, improved transit, and enhanced commute trip reduction. The focus of the urban partnership would be the application. The project would involve partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), King County, cities, and federal transportation agencies. For more information, contact Mike Cummings at 206-464-6172 or mcummings@psrc.org. The Transportation Policy Board received an overview of the Sound Transit Phase 2 (ST2) program and further discussed PSRC's conformity review of the program of projects. The draft ST2 package totals $9.8 billion (in 2006 dollars), includes light rail extensions to Lynnwood, Bellevue/Overlake, and Tacoma, enhancements to current stations and parking availability, and more frequent commuter rail service. PSRC's conformity review process is required by state law, and will evaluate whether the regional transit system plan is consistent with regional plan policies, including policies aimed at all major transportation investments in the region. The Transportation Policy Board will make a conformity recommendation at their next meeting in May. For more information, contact Jennifer Ryan at 206-587-5670 or jryan@psrc.org. In other business, the Transportation Policy Board: The Growth Management Policy Board recommended Seattle-South Lake Union be designated a Regional Growth Center. The proposed center is located between the Downtown Seattle, Uptown\Queen Anne, and First Hill\Capitol hill Regional Growth Centers, in a neighborhood with great potential for growth and positive change. The neighborhood plan developed by the city envisions the area as a lively, exciting urban neighborhood where people can live and work in close proximity. Seattle-South Lake Union meets all the criteria required for designation as a regional growth center, and PSRC staff concurs with the policy board recommendation for designation as the region's 26th Regional Growth Center. This will go to the Executive Board for final approval. For more information, contact Yorik Stevens-Wajda at 206-389-2158, ystevens@psrc.org. The Growth Management Policy Board continued to review the draft actions for the VISION 2020 update. The actions describe how the proposed multicounty planning policies for the VISION update will be implemented. The draft actions, multicounty planning policies and the preferred growth strategy will be included in a VISION document scheduled for public review this summer. For more information, contact Rocky Piro at 206-464-6360, rpiro@psrc.org. The Growth Management Policy Board discussed the draft regional monitoring and measures program to be included in the VISION 2020 update. The objective of the draft monitoring program is to track plan implementation and results involving a few important indicators to give a broad understanding of whether the VISION is being accomplished. For more information, contact Ben Bakkenta at 206-464-5370 or bbakkenta@psrc.org. In other business, the Growth Management Policy Board:
|
|