April 2002

Workshop on Context-Sensitive Transportation Design, April 30-May 1

Award-winning efforts to make central Puget Sound an even better place to live were celebrated by regional leaders at the Puget Sound Regional Council's General Assembly meeting March 21 in Seattle.

"The VISION 2020 Award winners are the outstanding real-life examples of how we're achieving our ambitious vision for growing wisely and creating great quality of life in all of the region's communities," said Tacoma Councilmember Doug Miller, chair of the awards selection committee.

Miller noted that there were a record number of high-quality nominations received this year, indicating the superb work being done by public and private organizations to achieve growth and transportation goals.

The Regional Council has celebrated the VISION 2020 Awards for the past seven years. The award competition is announced each fall and nominations are due by the end of the year. For more information on the awards program, please contact Anne Avery at (206) 587-4818, aavery@psrc.org.

...the 2002 VISION 2020 Award Winners

Evergreen Park Phase II Expansion


Sponsored by: City of Bremerton, Loftus Family Trust, Brem-Air Disposal Company, the Bremerton Rotary Club, Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation.

Evergreen Park Phase II transformed a former industrial site at the north end of downtown Bremerton. The project cleaned up 4.5 acres of contaminated land and created a new park with grassy open space, shoreline trails, lighted bike paths, and an amphitheater for performing arts. The park has already stimulated development of a new coffee shop and other businesses on abandoned properties nearby.

---

I-405 Corridor Program

Sponsored by: 1-405 Executive Committee, the Washington State Department of Transportation and David Evans and Associates

This program was honored as a great example of regional cooperation. The I-405 corridor program is an innovative partnership between all of the cities, elected officials and agencies in the I-405 corridor. The program is taking a holistic approach to transportation planning, looking at land use and environmental issues, along with moving people along the corridor. The significant achievement of the I-405 program has been to establish broad-based regional agreement on a plan to address I-405's complex traffic and mobility challenges.

---

Juanita Village

Sponsored by: GGLO Architecture, Planning and Urban Design, City of Kirkland, SECO Development, The Berger Partnership, Triad Associates, and Stalzer & Associates

Juanita Village is a new mixed-use neighborhood in Kirkland that is a great example of suburban redevelopment. The project is transforming a 1960s-style strip mall shopping center into a more pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with housing, shopping, public plazas and transit access.

Within a few years, Juanita Village will be home to 459 residences, including townhomes, apartments, and work/live lofts. Over two acres of plazas and other open spaces will be located around the Village, and transit service will be provided on all of the surrounding streets.

---

Julie Apartments and Urban Rest Stop

Sponsored by: Low Income Housing Institute, Tonkin/Hoyne/Lokan Architects, Buchanan General Construction, City of Seattle and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

This project renovated a 73-year-old building at Ninth and Virginia in downtown Seattle, building 47 units of affordable housing for people with very low income. At the street level, the building hosts a hygiene center called the Urban Rest Stop with free restrooms, showers and laundry facilities for low-income and homeless people. Each day, the Urban Rest Stop provides 100 loads of laundry, 200-250 showers and 300 restroom uses.

The struggle to build the hygiene center was controversial and took almost 10 years to resolve, and finally came about after strategic negotiations with the Downtown Seattle Association and the City of Seattle.

---

King County Transit Oriented Development Program
Sponsored by: King County
Through the Transit Oriented Development Program, King County is successfully promoting housing and commercial development around transit hubs. Since 1998, the county has been working with cities and developers to find ways to promote transit-oriented development. Since that time three TOD projects have been completed -- at Northgate in Seattle, Metropolitan Place in Renton and Overlake in Redmond. More than 20 other sites are in varying stages of development.

---

Metropolitan Place

Sponsored by: The Dally Companies, King County, City of Renton, KTH Architects and Con Am Management

This innovative project in downtown Renton features 90 mixed-income apartments over a King County Metro park-and-ride garage. Residents of Metropolitan Place can walk to grocery stores, restaurants, a new city park, and other services. Each apartment receives a free Metro bus pass for 10 years. The project has also been a catalyst for additional redevelopment in downtown Renton.

---

The Village at Overlake Station

Sponsored by: King County Housing Authority, King County, City of Redmond, Hewitt Architects, Langly Associates, Lorig Associates, and Walsh Construction Company

This remarkable project has taken an existing park-and-ride lot in Redmond and built 308 units of affordable housing, a transit center, and a child care center on a single site. Overlake is within biking and walking distance of many employers, shopping and services in Bellevue and Redmond. Residents can take an elevator down directly to the Metro Transit waiting area, and all tenants receive free bus passes for up to two years. Shared Flexcars are available on site.

---

Port of Tacoma Road Grade Separation

Sponsored by: Port of Tacoma, Washington State Department of Transportation and Balfour Beatty Construction.

Port of Tacoma is the first of the FAST Corridor freight mobility projects to be completed. The project built an overpass and interchange that raised Port of Tacoma Road over State Route 509 and new railroad tracks that run parallel to SR 509. The project alleviates congestion, and increases the road and rail capacity in the Tideflats area. The $33 million project was completed on time and within budget, and helps freight move faster while easing traffic on clogged roads.

---

Roosevelt Way to Go

Sponsored by: City of Seattle, the Seattle School District, Roosevelt High School, King County Metro, and Taylor/Consulting

Roosevelt Way to Go encouraged students at Roosevelt High School in Seattle to ride the bus, carpool, bike or walk to school instead of driving alone. The program replaced service on four yellow school bus routes with more flexible free Metro bus passes. As a result, 82 percent of students on those routes used the Metro passes, compared with 61 percent who rode the yellow buses the year before. Students also produced a "teen fun bus map" that was distributed to more than 5,000 students, families and businesses. Way to Go is an outstanding example of a relatively small investment that helped reduce the number of students driving alone and raised awareness about transportation choices among the region's youngest commuters.

---

Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative

Sponsored by: City of Snoqualmie, King County, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company, and Cascade Land Conservancy

This important initiative will protect more than 9,000 acres of forestland from development. Elements of the agreement include:

• 145 acres of forest adjacent to Snoqualmie Falls will be preserved permanently.
• Up to 9,000 acres in the Raging River Watershed south of I-90 will be protected from development and limited to sustainable forestry.
• 600 acres of Weyerhaeuser land along King County's trail system will be protected.
• Weyerhaeuser's Snoqualmie Ridge, within the City of Snoqualmie, will be allowed to add 268 additional homes.
• Weyerhaeuser will contribute $1 million toward construction of a trail bridge across the Snoqualmie River above the Falls.

---

Transportation Incentive Program

Sponsored by: Kitsap Transit and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

This highly successful program in Kitsap County is encouraging Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employees to commute by transit. Shipyard employees register for this free program and immediately receive their "Smart Commuter Card." This card allows free rides on any Kitsap Transit route. Kitsap Transit bills Puget Sound Naval Shipyard once a month for the actual rides taken by employees -- $25 for every 42 rides.

Within a few months after the program started, bus ridership grew 72 percent, and vanpool ridership 10 percent. The program has been so successful, the Department of Defense is extending the program to all of its federal worksites in Kitsap County.

---

Upper Tacoma Design Guidelines

Sponsored by: Main Street Upper Tacoma, The National Main Street Center, Impact Capital, City of Tacoma, Martin Luther King Housing Development Association, and McGranahan Architects

These guidelines are aimed at promoting economic revitalization and preserving the historic character of the Upper Tacoma (Hilltop) neighborhood. They're intended to improve quality of life by creating a more pedestrian-friendly and safe community.

The guidelines were developed by neighborhood and business leaders and City of Tacoma representatives, and are being used as a catalyst for revitalization of the business district. Even though the Guidelines were only recently adopted, they're already having an effect on new development. A new Rite Aid Store and a new senior housing development incorporate major elements of the design guidelines.

Back to top

---

Imagining Our Transportation Future

Value Pricing Conference May 29 in Bellevue

Local elected officials, business and community leaders, and transportation professionals are invited to attend an upcoming conference, Imagining Our Transportation Future, on May 29 at the Bellevue Club Hotel.

The conference will gather an exciting group of elected officials, international and national experts, and visionary thinkers in an informative and thought-provoking exploration of the role that value pricing may play in addressing the region's transportation needs and shaping its future. Value pricing is a way of harnessing the power of the market, reducing the waste associated with congestion and offering people alternatives to congested roads.

The conference is part of a series of national workshops being conducted by the Federal Highway Administration and the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Space is limited. For more information and registration materials, please see the conference Web site at psrc.org, or contact Ben Bakkenta, bbakkenta@psrc.org, (206) 464-5372.

Back to top

---

Use of Central Puget Sound Park-and-Rides Increasing

More people are choosing to leave their cars at the region's major park-and-ride lots and take the bus. In 1995, there were about 16,638 spaces available at major central Puget Sound park-and-ride lots. An average of 12,680 vehicles parked in these lots on weekdays. In 2001, the number of full spaces grew to 16,380, with about 20,900 total spots available.

Figure 1. Major Park-and-Ride Lot Utilization 1995-2001Number of Stalls

In fall 2001, there were 42 major park-and-ride lots (lots with over 300 parking spaces) in the central Puget Sound region, averaging about 500 spaces per lot. These park-and-rides are served by the region's five major transit agencies and are used primarily by commuters taking the bus to and from work. Vanpools and carpools also use park-and-rides as meeting places.

Four new park-and-ride lots were built between 1999 and 2001 resulting in a 10 percent increase in capacity regionwide. Three new lots opened in Pierce County (Bonney Lake, South Hill and Tacoma Dome Phase II) and one in south King County (Twin Lakes.)

From 1999 to 2001, lot closures in east and northwest King County caused a significant reduction in capacity in these areas, as shown in Table 1. Overlake in east King County and Renton Boeing Lot 6 in northwest King County were closed during the data collection period due to construction.

Table 1. Percent Change in Capacity of the Major Park-and-Rides by Subarea			Table 2. Percent Change in Utilization of the Major Park-and-Rides by Subarea
	1999-01	1995-01		1999-01	1995-01
East King County	-4.94%	-5.74%	East King County	7.44%	21.06%
Kitsap County	9.58%	19.10%	Kitsap County	-39.68%	-52.68%
Northwest King County	-5.15%	14.22%	Northwest King County	2.77%	15.11%
Pierce County	119.66%	271.68%	Pierce County	-39.43%	-19.40%
Snohomish County	-0.29%	43.43%	Snohomish County	6.93%	-1.20%
South King County	5.79%	5.79%	South King County	-12.82%	3.50%
Region	10.25%	25.62%	Region	-7.23%	2.83%

---

Northwest King County had the highest utilization rate in 2001 -- 93 percent -- with a slight decrease in capacity of 5 percent. East King County had the highest increase in utilization -- 21 percent -- between 1995 and 2001.

Kitsap County showed one of the lowest utilization rates for 2001 as well as the largest decreases in utilization between 1995 and 2001. The Southworth Ferry park-and-ride lot, which serves the Southworth Ferry Terminal in Kitsap County, showed the largest decrease in utilization between 1995 and 2001.

In 1995 the Southworth Ferry park-and-ride lot was the most over-used park-and-ride in the region, with a utilization rate of 120 percent. To solve this problem, Kitsap Transit began offering free shuttles to three nearby park-and-ride lots and charging a fee at the Southworth Ferry park-and-ride lot in 1997. This led to a decrease in utilization of the lot by 37 percent in 1997. Despite the parking fee, use of the Southworth lot increased in 1999 to 94 percent due to high demand. In 2001 more capacity was added but the number of occupied spaces remained the same, dropping the utilization to 57 percent for 2001.

More information on park-and-ride use is available in the April issue of Puget Sound Trends, on the Web at psrc.org. For more information on park-and-ride data, please contact Stephanie Rossi, (206) 587-5118,
e-mail srossi@psrc.org.