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The Road Ahead

Planning for Our Transportation Future

Submitted by Thera Black

One of the biggest challenges we face as a community is preserving the quality of life we have all come to know and enjoy. Our stable economy, great schools, beautiful geography, and healthy environment continue to attract and retain valued citizens. We can each identify different qualities we cherish and the opportunities that this quality of life provides.

One of our vital community needs is mobility - the ability to get from home to work, to shop, to school, to play; the ability to deliver goods to stores; the ability to get the products of our industry into the market. We need an efficient transportation network to meet these needs and accommodate our future growth. Efforts today will help ensure our mobility tomorrow.

Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) is updating the 1993 Regional Transportation Plan. That Plan focuses on the movement of people and goods. It strives for less reliance on solo driving in the future to enhance the choice, mobility, and quality of life for everyone in the community. This Update is a focused review of the original Plan, incorporating changes made at the local level since 1993 and extending the planning horizon to 2020. The Update seeks to define a balanced transportation network that promotes evolution from our present auto-oriented community to one with more transportation choices.

This Update is being coordinated with the development of Intercity Transit's Long Range System Plan. The System Plan will guide the role of transit in this region through 2020. These coordinated efforts will ensure that the two plans work together to create an affordable strategy for meeting the region's needs now and in the future.

What is meant by our "transportation network"? Cars are a part of that network, but it's much more than that. The transportation network encompasses our roads, railroads, bikeways, and sidewalks. It includes cars, buses, trains, bikes, trucks, and feet. Our network includes things like park-and-ride lots, vanpools, transit lanes, and intersection improvements that increase the efficiency of the whole network.

A key factor affecting the efficiency and choices of our transportation network is land use. Low density (3-4 units/acre) residential areas, segregated from commercial development, generate lots of travel needs that only driving can meet. Most of Thurston County's growth since 1970 has been just this kind of development - difficult to serve efficiently with transit, too far from services for most people to comfortably walk or bike to meet daily needs. Future growth will allow increased densities and mixed uses in the urban areas, affording increased options for a more efficient transportation network. Planning for our transportation network means looking not only at the challenges presented by growth but at the opportunities it presents as well.

Traffic Report: 2020

Regional staff use a tool called a "transportation model" to identify some of the challenges and opportunities the region's network faces by 2020. The model simulates future roadway conditions based on travel patterns and forecasted growth. It allows testing of various options for their effectiveness in mitigating future problems.

When 2020 population and employment are modeled on today's transportation network, some significant mobility problems surface: All of the region's major corridors are congested at rush hour; Growth on I-5 shows enough traffic to warrant two or three new lanes in each direction; and The average car trip will take almost twice as long to make in 2020 as it does today.

Areas of opportunity are also identified: Locations for potential new north/south and east/west connections to relieve congestion on the region's few corridors become evident; Future high density corridors indicate areas where transit and non-motorized travel alternatives can be most efficient; and Locations of major employment sites suggest possibilities to reduce travel demand by stronger ridesharing, vanpooling, and other trip reduction efforts.

Addressing future mobility problems will require a "package" of options, including transit, non-motorized improvements, and trip reduction programs - and new road connections and widenings. Despite these improvements, though, congestion will be worse.

The Brutal Truth

We will grow. Traffic will get worse. Road improvements alone will not solve the problem. Transit service alone will not solve the problem. Aggressive programs to reduce car travel will not solve the problem.

The magnitude of forecasted congestion problems will affect every one of us in Thurston County in some way. We will have to tolerate more congestion or be willing to modify our travel patterns, or both.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Three packages of transportation options are being tested. Certain road improvements are common to all three packages:

• Widenings to relieve certain key congestion areas, like the 4th and 5th Avenue bridges, Marvin Road/I-5 interchange; and Yelm Highway from Henderson to Rich Road;
• Connections to improve the north/south and east/west traffic flow, like an interchange at Carpenter Road and I-5, the Y2 bypass south of Yelm, and frontage road from Littlerock to Airdustrial;
• Freight access improvements, like Mottman Road from Crosby to Black Lake Blvd., and Franklin Street from the Port of Olympia to Thurston Street; and
• Operational improvements to maximize efficiency, like removal of on-street parking during rush hour on 4th/State Avenues; turn bays and other intersection improvements; and signal priority for transit in the urban corridors. -}

  All three packages assume that urban road improvements include bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the road; rural road improvements include six-foot wide paved shoulders for walking and biking. More road projects yield fewer additional bike improvements in the test packages.

  Following is a brief description of the significant features of each test package. Package #1

  Roads and Congestion: Relieves forecasted rush hour congestion to maintain today's standards. Includes a "ring road" from Tumwater to southeast Lacey and "diamond lanes" on I-5 and US 101. (Cost = $1.4 billion)

  Transit and Vanpools: Maintains today's service levels, but increases the vanpool program by 100 vehicles. (Cost = $470 million)

  Trip Reduction Efforts: Increases services, promotion and education to encourage trip reduction. (Cost = $10 million)

  Bike Improvements: Least number of additional bike improvements. (Cost = $11 million) Package #2

  Roads and Congestion: Relieves rush hour congestion except on roads with physical or environmental constraints. Includes an I-5 bypass between 93rd and Pacific Avenue, and a "west ring road" connecting south Tumwater to west Olympia. (Cost = $971 million)

  Transit and Vanpools: Increases service in the urban areas, and to Lakewood via express commuter service. Includes some increase in service to newly developing areas and two new transit centers. Expands vanpool program by 250+ vans. (Cost = $670 million)

  Trip Reduction Efforts: Enforces existing Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) programs. Includes disincentives that raise the cost of driving, like a region-wide parking fee. Provides more incentives for not driving. (Cost = $20 million)

  Bike Improvements: Most number of additional bike improvements. (Cost = $16 million) Package #3

  Roads and Congestion: Relieves the worst congestion during the busy mid-afternoon period instead of rush hour. Includes a "ring road" from Tumwater to Lacey, a "west ring road" from south Tumwater to west Olympia, and a major I-5 bypass along SR 507 into Pierce County. (Cost = $1 billion)

  Transit Improvements: Includes all features in Package #2, plus increased services to developing areas, several more new transit centers, flyover ramps from I-5 to Lacey and Olympia, and 50+ more vanpool vehicles. (Cost = $770 million)

  Trip Reduction Efforts: Most aggressive disincentive options to reduce travel demand, including parking caps on new development, increased gas taxes and parking fees, and expanded CTR program to include smaller employers. Increases incentives for not driving. (Cost = $30 million)

  Bike Improvements: Fewer additional projects than in Package #2. (Cost = $13 million)

  Weighing the Alternatives

  Determining appropriate measures to meet future mobility needs means looking hard at various issues, some of which may conflict with other issues.

  Traffic Congestion: How does the community define "tolerable" and "intolerable" congestion? Opinions vary widely about the need to relieve congestion and the appropriate measures to use.

  Land Use & Choice: Which options maximize the community's transportation choices and mobility while supporting compact urban development that is efficiently served by all modes of travel?

  Environment: Combinations of measures need evaluation for their effectiveness in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, lessening the negative impacts on air and water quality, and helping to prevent sprawl.

  Safety and Preservation: Preservation of the existing network is vital; we must take care of what we already have before expanding the network. This includes safety upgrades that reduce the huge costs imposed by accidents.

  Economic Vitality: Freight and service accessibility is critical for a healthy economy. How well do various measures work together to support regional economic goals?

  Community opinions and ideas are still arriving at TRPC from surveys distributed in late April. A diverse range of concerns and values are surfacing, reflecting the complexity of the transportation issues this region faces.

  Paying the Toll

  Based on current sources, this region can expect to generate enough revenue over the next 23 years to pay for the maintenance and operations of the existing transportation network, with just a little left over for improvements. In effect, without any new revenue this region will face 2020 land uses on the 1997 network.

  Potential new revenue sources include:

  • Motor Vehicle License Fee: $15 annual fee paid at the same time vehicle tabs are renewed. (1998-2020 Revenue = $70 million)
  • 10% Local Option Gas Tax: Currently, 2.3cents/gallon. This would cost the average driver an additional $18/year. (1998-2020 Revenue = $65 million)
  • Sales Tax Increase for Transit: An additional 0.3% sales tax increase would cost consumers another 30cents on every $100 spent. (Additional 2000-2020 Revenue = $138 million) -}

    Over the summer, policy makers and staff from each jurisdiction will work with Regional staff to define a "preferred package" based on public comments received on the three test packages and collective goals. This will be the time that price tags are tallied. Potential funding sources will be identified or proposed measures reduced in order to develop a financially constrained plan.

    Your Move

    Planning for the regional network requires thoughtful community conversations, weighing of difficult alternatives, and hard decisions. Your informed participation in the process is encouraged.

    For more information on the 1997 Regional Transportation Plan Update, a copy of public comments, or to be put on the mailing list, please call Thera Black at TRPC, 786-5480. For information on Intercity Transit's Long Range System Plan, please call Stefan Marks at IT, 705-5833.

    Thera Black is an Associate Planner with the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

    
    

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