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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-27-2013 2-27-2013 * CITY OF AUBURN CITY OF * * TRANSPORTATION, TRANSIT AND TRAILS COMMITTEE s February 27, 2013 WASHINGTON MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Roger Thordarson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the Council Conference Room, located on the first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, Washington. Committee members present were: Vice-Chair Nick Perius, Lonnie Tealer, Jim Fletcher, John Daniels Jr. and Michael Pratum. Also present during the meeting were: Director Dennis Dowdy, Transportation Planner Joe Welsh, Traffic Engineer James Webb and Office Assistant Molly Hoisington. II. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Committee approved the Transportation, Transit and Trails minutes for January 23, 2013. Minutes were approved by consensus. III. DISCUSSION AND INFORMATION A. M STREET UPDATE (Dowdy) Director Dowdy informed the Committee the first railroad bridge has been completed and is now under use. The second bridge is 85% complete. Chairman Thordarson asked when the City plans to open M Street. Director Dowdy advised May/June at this point as the project is on schedule. B. GUARD RAIL PROJECT (Webb) Traffic Engineer Webb stated the City received a grant for guard rails; therefore will be replacing approximately 1,200 feet of existing guard rail and adding approximately 7,000 feet of new guard rail. Chairmain Thordarson asked where the replacements are going to take place. Traffic Engineer Webb responded, some will be along Green River Road (up past the golf course), Mountain View (by the cemetery), R Street and Kersey Way. These locations were identified as needing replacement as there have been fatal run off road accidents. C. 277TH(Dowdy) Director Dowdy said the grant the City currently has is for the design of the Right of Way. The City will be going into contract shortly to design the work. This project will increase the road to five lanes. Currently, this is the only portion of the corridor from here to SR-18 that isn't five lanes. D. STATE PLANS — See article by Judy Clibborn (Dowdy) Director Dowdy discussed the article by Judy Clibborn which was included in the packet. The letter is urging the State to complete SR-509 and SR-167 as well as pavement preservation. Transportation, Transit, and Trails Committee February 27, 2013 MINUTES Director Dowdy stated the House Bill 1954 is now available online if Committee would like to review. Director Dowdy mentioned one of the groups that were pushing for something in the legislature this year is a group called Connect Washington. If bills pass, this would raise the gas tax and CNG special fuel tax each year for five years in a row, two cents per gallon. E. MAYORS' LETTER ON THE FIRST STEP TRANSPORTATION PLAN (Dowdy) Director Dowdy mentioned the Mayors' letter which was addressed to Governor Inslee and Legislative Leaders. The letter is signed by forty four Mayors' across the state including Mayor Lewis. The letter states: "We, the undersigned Mayors, are gravely concerned about the urgent and unmet need for transportation funding and humbly request that you take action in the 2013 legislative session. We see both direct funding and local financing options as effective means to address the need. Failing to take action now will cause increased transportation costs, increased congestion, and reduced competitiveness for Washington businesses. Recognizing that we as state taxpayers have competing interest for limited dollars, we ask that you give serious consideration to providing authority and options at the local level this year." The letter offers a "First Step" proposal: 1) Eight cent per gallon gas tax increase. 2) A Motor Vehicle Excise Tax option of up to 1.5% that counties could enact either by councilmanic action or public vote with options provided to counties for a specific level of MVET and method of revenue allocations. 3) Expand from $20 to $40 the vehicle license fee (VLF) that can be enacted through public vote or councilmanic action. The letter also states: "This plan is a "First Step" towards addressing the most immediate transportation needs of cities, counties and the State. But there continues to be a need for sustainable funding solutions to address the longer-term needs of our statewide transportation system identified by the Connecting Washington Task Force last year. We are committed to working with you to address our shared critical needs. When State leaders develop a proposal for long-term, sustainable transportation funding, we encourage the consideration of several strategies, including: creation of local or statewide transportation utilities, development of a pilot program to test the potential use of a transportation revenue strategy based on usage, such as a vehicle miles traveled option, and an increase in weight fees, because many cities experience the effects of heavy truck usage on their local roadway system." F. MIT/CITY SHUTTLE BUS ROUTES (Welsh) Transportation Planner Welsh stated the first step when transit planning is to identify the needs of the customer and find out what they are riding the bus for. In order to better serve the connections between these routes, the City needs to find out where the riders want to go and what time the riders want to go. Page 2 Transportation, Transit, and Trails Committee February 27, 2013 MINUTES According to Transportation Planner Welsh, the City Shuttle Service provides a good local circulation that you'd otherwise have to depend on the through routes on Metro. The City Shuttle Service is designed to get people to medical services in downtown Auburn, Senior Center, Muckleshoot Casino and Dogwood area, Supermall and YMCA. In addition, the shuttle also goes to social services, unemployment and Valley Cities Counseling on the I Street corridor. The key connection point that the City Shuttle Service and Muckleshoot Shuttle Bus have in common appears to be the Dogwood Street area by the QFC. Member Daniels stated Muckleshoot will be conducting a demographics survey and transportation will be a component. The survey should be completed by spring time. Transportation Planner Welsh stated he will need to consider how the schedule for route 919 coincides. Vice-Chair Perius asked how often route 919 runs. Transportation Planner Welsh responded route 919 runs hourly. Vice-Chair Perius stated this seems like it would be a great connection. Transportation Planner Welsh mentioned the hourly turn around is reasonable for shopping and medical appointments. Route 919 starts at 7:50am at Dogwood and the last arrival at Dogwood is at 3:49pm. IV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Transportation, Transit, and Trails Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Approved this I day of 12013. Roger Thordarson Molly HoT ington Chairman Public Works Department Office Assistant Page 3