HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Committee of the Whole June 3 2008WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Special Committee Of The Whole
June 3, 2008
Council Chair Carl Weimer called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the Council
Conference Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
Present: Absent:
Barbara Brenner L. Ward Nelson
Bob Kelly
Sam Crawford
Laurie Caskey- Schreiber
1. WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PRESENTATION
ON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LONG -TERM IMPROVEMENTS TO THE I -5
CORRIDOR FROM FAIRHAVEN TO SLATER (AB2008 -216)
Todd Carlson, Washington State Department of Transportation, submitted a handout
(on file). They are reaching the end of the process of the Interstate 5 (I -5) Master Plan.
"rhey will have a public open house in June. He read his presentation (on file). The
assumptions are important because they may change, such as what's going on with fuel
prices and greenhouse gases. There are three interchanges in an area where there should
be one or two. Interchanges should be a mile apart, but they are a half mile apart. People
have a difficult time getting on and off the interstate, and that's where the crashes occur.
When the traffic backs up is when they start seeing injury accidents and fatalities.
There are many locations that have missing connectivity. They model those
locations to see if the Interstate operates better if there is connectivity. It does, but it
doesn't preclude the safety problems.
Caskey- Schreiber stated that synchronizing the lights helps prevent buildup on the
off ramps. That would help with the problems on the Guide Meridian. Carlson stated that is
a very complicated subject. On the Guide Meridian, the City is looking to move the most
traffic and cause the least amount of problems. The difficulty is the spacing between the
north bound off ramp is very tight. It's difficult to synchronize that movement and keep the
traffic on the Guide Meridian moving. There is a plan to rebuild the interchange, but there
will still be problems to Bakerview and beyond. The problems are capacity and access. The
State Department of Transportation recommends that the northbound left turn into the Mall
at the intersection of the Guide and Telegraph Road goes away. Use the left turn space to
allow more green time for traffic through- movement. The City has worked on that issue
endlessly. The City has done the best it can do with what is there. They need to rebuild
some things before it will get better.
One problem is that half the traffic on the interstate is people use the interstate for
local trips. Data shows that about half the traffic uses the freeway to go about 30 miles,
and the other half of the traffic use the interstate go three or four interchanges. The
interstate is designed for longer trips, not local trips. If it takes three times as long to use
local roads, people will use the interstate. That's the issue.
Committee of the Whole -DOT I -5 Improvements, 6/3/2008, Page 1
1 Kelly asked why those interchanges are there if the Interstate wasn't designed for
2 local trips. Carlson stated the design standards weren't as rigorous in 1958, when it was
3 built, as they are today.
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5 Crawford stated the neighborhoods and communities probably lobbied heavily for
6 access when it was built. Had the interstate come through without much local access, the
7 local benefit might have been perceived as a lot less, and there would have been more
8 resistance.
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10 Carlson stated that the Interstate through Bellingham is one of the worst examples
11 there is. The southbound onramp at Lakeway Drive was a construction ramp. It was never
12 supposed to be there, but they left it.
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14 Brenner stated exit to the mall from the north should have been designed with more
15 room to allow right turns. They get backed up from one person who wants to go left.
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17 Caskey- Schreiber stated there is an off -ramp into the mall, but there isn't an on-
18 ramp out of the mall. During the peak season, traffic is really blocked up. Carlson stated
19 the mall paid for that off ramp into the mall. He continued to read the presentation on the
20 assumptions.
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22 The forecast for traffic in 2035 is significantly higher. Local traffic will be about 50
23 percent more. Traffic between Canada and Skagit County will be about 100 percent more.
24 Truck traffic will be about 275 percent more. Those travel assumptions are based on the
25 model and connectivity.
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27 There will be huge impacts if they rebuild the interchanges and deal with the safety
28 problem. The long term plan will probably not be built in their lifetimes, but there are
29 things they have to do sooner rather than later.
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31 Also, assumptions will change. The assumption now is that they will use vehicles in
32 the future the same way they do now, but that may change. If it changes, they will revisit
33 that assumption.
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35 Kelly asked if it is premature to talk about developing a rail system, given the fact
36 that one doesn't have to drive far to get to the congestion north of Seattle. Seattle
37 congestion has moved to the Tulalip Casino area. He asked if it's too soon to talk about
38 light rail from here to there. If there is a huge cost to address just issues with three or four
39 interchanges being too close together, pump that money into light rail instead. Carlson
40 stated this master plan focuses on safety, which is the biggest problem. They won't be able
41 to handle the vehicular traffic in 20 or 30 years if it continues to grow. They can't build
42 their way out of the problem, so rail becomes important to move between cities. He
43 continued to read the presentation on the improvements that have emerged.
44
45 Caskey- Schreiber stated she is in favor of trying to make the interchanges safer
46 without closing them. People would be very upset if they were closed. Business would be
47 affected. Carlson stated that concept is no longer an option. He finished reading the
48 presentation.
49
50 Caskey- Schreiber stated she understands that the federal government is pressuring
51 them to fix the safety problems. How do they cultivate light rail and mass transit. She
52 asked how the community gets that on the radar for being a viable options, just like these
53 ideas are. Carlson stated the plan for the interstate highway could leave room in the middle
Committee of the Whole -DOT I -5 Improvements, 6/3/2008, Page 2
for whatever happens in the future. They have a 20 -year plan for intercity passenger rail
that plans for four train trips per day. That's not enough to make a dent in the amount of
forecasted travel. The Washington Transportation Plan is parallel to this Interstate planning
process. The Council and councilmembers may send a letter to them and the Governor
about the issues.
This plan allows the State to fix a problem if it finds money, provides opportunity to
partner with the private sector, and is a beginning point for a conversation with the public.
He would love to have trains that run on half hour intervals. They have a long way to go to
do that, and don't own the track. That issue is a parallel discussion. Light rail doesn't
usually become feasible until there are 300,000 people in an urban area. Burlington
Northern /Santa Fe Railroad ultimately has to give them the space to run the trails. They
don't make much money on inner -city passenger rail. By 2035, there may be no room for
inner -city passenger rail on that line. This plan wasn't intended to deal with that directly,
but the issues are connected.
Kelly stated the DOT exercises its eminent domain power all the time. The regional
people can decide it's better to do it now, rather than wait until its too late. Given the
models, they are not going to build their way out of it. Carlson stated the interstate
highway system isn't the only way to get around.
Kelly stated people are opting to fly back and forth between Bellingham and Seattle
or Olympia. They are ready for alternatives. Carlson stated the County Council can lobby
the State for alternatives.
Caskey- Schreiber asked if I -5 will remain two lanes through Bellingham. Carlson
stated they will add the collector- distributor lanes only, but there is space for two more
lanes in the future. There would be big impacts to the neighborhoods.
Weimer asked how easy it is to change the assumptions for this plan. He questions
whether they should spend $35 million on buses rather than on interchanges. Carlson
stated they have to separate the safety and capacity issues. They can revisit the model any
time. Those are policy issues they will have to monitor.
Weimer asked if the model can calculate the safety difference if people drove smaller
cars rather than big sport utility vehicles (SUV's). Carlson stated it cannot. It understands
how trucks versus cars operate. It is a poor indicator for safety issues, and its difficult to
predict. Many times, accidents happen because of human behavior.
Unidentified speaker asked if they are talking about closing two interchanges.
Weimer stated that idea has been ruled out.
Unidentified speaker asked how the changes will affect north - county residents when
traveling to downtown.
Carlson stated they looked at the issue closer because interchanges don't meet
design standards. They're too close together. They eliminated those ideas early on
because they couldn't quantify the impacts. They will design around those problems.
(Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
Committee of the Whole -DOT I -5 Improvements, 6/3/2008, Page 3
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Carlson stated it's likely they will remain. It may be the same cost to include them
in a design rather than close them. Regarding the issue about getting into the city, there
will be better flow with collector- distributor lanes. Don't look for any of these improvements
soon.
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
ADJOURN
rh meeting adjourned at 2:23 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
The Council approved these minutes on July 22 , 2008.
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Carl Weimer, Council Chair
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Committee of the Whole -DOT I -5 Improvements, 6/3/2008, Page 4