HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-20-2011 ITEM II-B
Memorandum
To: Judi Roland, Chair, Planning Commission
Planning Commissioners
From: Kevin Snyder, AICP, Planning and Development Director
CC: Elizabeth Chamberlain, AICP, Planning Manager
Jeff Dixon, Principal Planner
Date: September 14, 2011
Re: 2011 Annual Comprehensive Plan Amendments – Additional Work Session
Group 2 Item – P/T 6 - Amendments to Comprehensive Transportation
Plan
BACKGROUND
Annually the City amends its Comprehensive Plan. The City processes both, city – initiated
amendments and private–initiated amendments. Private-initiated Comprehensive Plan
amendment applications (text or map) were accepted by the City of Auburn until Friday, June
10, 2011. In response to the public notification of the time period for applications, the City
received two private – initiated comprehensive plan amendments; one combined text & map
amendment and one map amendment. The docket was reviewed by the City Council’s
Planning and Community Development Committee at their June 27, 2011 meeting and
introduced and briefly discussed by the Planning Commission at their July 6, 2011 meeting.
The Planning Commission at its September 7, 2011 meeting discussed Work Session Group
2 items. The proposed amendments contained in P/T 8 for Chapters 3, 8 and 14 of the
Comprehensive Plan are part of the second group of Comprehensive Plan amendments.
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DISCUSSION
P/T 6 Amendments to Comprehensive Transportation Plan
At the Commission’s September 20, 2011meeting, staff would like to review and discuss
proposed amendments to the City’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan. These
amendments are proposed to reflect the recommendations of the City of Auburn Bicycle Task
Force.
PLEASE NOTE: At time of packet issuance, the processing of the amendments to the
Comprehensive Transportation Plan was not complete. A copy of the Plan containing
the proposed amendments will be provided separately to the Commission prior to the
September 20, 2011 meeting.
The City of Auburn Bicycle Task Force formed in March 2010 by Mayor Lewis. Mayor Lewis
charged the Task Force to develop recommendations on bicycle facilities, issues and
opportunities centered on the following three principles:
The Bicycle Task Force was comprised of 12 individuals plus representatives from Auburn
School District, Green River Community College and Cascade Bicycle Club that were invited
to be part of Task Force. The Chair was Terry Davis and the Vice Chair was John Calnan
who is a member of the City’s Transportation, Trails and Transit Committee. The Task Force
met a total of 14 times between April 2010 and November 2010 including a 3 hour community
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tour on Saturday, July 24, 2010 and a joint meeting with Auburn Tourism Board and Auburn
Downtown Association on August 12, 2010. The Committee worked on a variety of issues
including mapping of bicycle facilities and identification of bicycle related projects and
priorities.
At the City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on November 29, 3010, Chair Davis
presented the Task Force’s recommendations to the City Council. These recommendations
were divided into short-term recommendations and long-term recommendations as follows:
Short-Term Recommendations:
• Use Sharrows 1 /Share The Road Signage in residential and some non-residential areas of
City.
• Implement a Pilot Program Concept for Sharrows/Share the Road consisting of:
o 18-24 month program period
o Pre-established performance measurements
o Pre-established reporting protocols
o Future policy consideration opportunity for City Council
• Continue installation of bike lanes in parts of City where there is existing/adequate right-
of-way.
• Develop Auburn specific bicycle signage program to highlight corridors, connectors and
in-city/out of city destinations.
• Make improvements to existing Interurban Trail – signage, pavement conditions,
vegetation maintenance, grade crossings, and upgrades to user facilities at Main Street
crossing.
Long-Term Recommendations:
• Develop capital improvement program project with cost estimate for design and
construction of bicycle/pedestrian bridge at southern terminus of M St. west of existing
Stuck River Vehicle Bridge.
• Develop capital improvement program project with cost estimate for design and
construction of innovative and safe pedestrian/bicycle crossing at M St./Auburn Way
South intersection
1Sharrows also known as shared lane markings, are on-street legends that reinforce the existing rules of
the road. They are not separate bike lanes: a motorist can still drive over the sharrows. Motorists should
expect to see and share the lane with bicyclists. Sharrows indicate to bicyclists the best place to ride in the
lane. Sharrows are typically used in locations where the roadway width is not adequate to provide
dedicated bike facilities or on downhill lanes where bicyclists might travel a similar speed as motor vehicles.
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• Install one or more bike boxes 2 through “pilot program” approach to test effectiveness and
public response – possible locations West Main Street/C Street intersection, M
Street/Auburn Way South intersection, Ellingson Rd/A Street intersection
• Install bicycle/pedestrian crossing warning systems along Interurban Trail at all crossing
locations – 277th, 37th St. NW, West Main St. and 15th St. SW
• Develop an official Auburn Bike Map
In addition, the Task Force presented the City Council with bicycle oriented economic
development recommendations including:
Develop Sounder Station as “starting point” for Cascade Bicycle Club and other bike club
rides
Rally Auburn Downtown Association and Auburn Tourism Board to develop business
support for bicycle riders/create bike-friendly businesses
Create perception of Auburn as “Bicycle City of South King County”
Use social media to advertise Auburn as bicycle friendly community
Connect with different types bicycle organizations about bicycling opportunities in Auburn
including Cascade Bicycle Club, Tacoma Wheelmen, Washington Mountain Biking
Association
Establish annual bike event in Auburn similar to Redmond Criterium and Enumclaw Days
that offer bike awareness and other events such as time trials, road races and multiple
terrain racing
Develop annual road race on Auburn streets – work with promoters to have different
levels of road racing to appeal to multiple types of riders
Tie in with bicycle racing events at Pacific Raceway like weekly criterium races, mountain
biking and Cyclocross
Cyclocross – major event that draws riders from all over Pacific Northwest, California, etc.
Multiple venue opportunities needed – could include Pacific Raceway, GRCC, Game
Farm Park and/or Roegner Park
Amendments to the bicycle oriented portions of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan have
been prepared to reflect the recommendations of the City of Auburn Bicycle Task Force.
2 Bike Boxes are a traffic control device at signalized intersections that require motorists to stop a short
distance before the crosswalk and allow bicyclists to stop in the area between the cars and the crosswalk.
Bicycle boxes give bicyclists priority by allowing them to go to the head of the line