Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Works June 21 20051 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Public Works and Safety Committee June 21, 2005 Committee Chair Barbara Brenner called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Absent: L. Ward Nelson Sam Crawford Also Present: Laurie Caskey- Schreiber Dan McShane Seth Fleetwood Sharon Roy COMMITTEE DISCUSSION 1. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE RESOLUTION APPROVING THE WHATCOM COUNTY SIX -YEAR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR THE YEARS 2006 THROUGH 2011 AND THE 14 -YEAR FERRY PLAN 2006 — 2019 (AB2005 -246) Joe Rutan, County Road Engineer, handed out information (on file). He will propose two amendments to the document to be introduced tonight. He has been promised about $5 million to do the Lincoln Road project, item 17. He proposes beginning in 2006 with defining the design options and coming up with a recommendation on a design. Then they will begin immediately with plan specification, estimating, permitting, mitigation design, right -of -way acquisition, and relocation. They can begin construction in 2008. It's a big project that includes two miles of road. They will work into the early part of 2009 with the finishing touches. However, the road should be open to traffic by the fall of 2008. That is an ambitious schedule. Amend the transportation improvement plan so that the project has $30,000 in 2006. In 2007, they will have $100,000 for design. In 2008, they will have $120,000 in design, $250,000 in right -of -way acquisition, and $5 million in construction. Roy asked if it's possible to get traffic impact fees initiated within this timeline to help pay for the project. Rutan stated it is. Brenner stated Fred Bovencamp is willing to work on it financially. Rutan stated Mr. Bovencamp will provide the right -of -way and engineering design for the bypass. The County will take him up on an offer to contribute to Lincoln Road. The Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. City of Blaine has also offered some money. He will propose to add the intersection of Birch Bay Lynden Road and Blaine Road to the six -year plan. He'd like to look at the option of including that intersection with this project. He will work with developers in the area. That is a classic capacity improvement on which traffic impact fees are applied. Caskey- Schreiber thanked Mr. Rutan for working on a solution on this issue. She asked for an update on the Hannegan Road and East Pole Road intersection. Rutan stated a consultant is doing a design study. One option is a signal. Another option is a roundabout without relocating businesses. A third option is relocation of businesses and a larger roundabout. Once they've decided on the design, the County will have to decide whether or not to fund the project without State money. The County could put in a temporary signal until the State comes up with money, as long as the State uses the pre - signal traffic counts when calculating State funding. There will be some kind of traffic control at that intersection by the end of 2006. Caskey- Schreiber stated she doesn't care what kind of traffic control is used, as long as traffic gets moving. The businesses in the area don't care if they use a roundabout. Rutan stated business traffic usually improves when there is a roundabout, which improves access to the businesses. Roy stated that the community should be involved with the Birch Bay Lynden Road and Blaine Road intersection improvements. She would not like to see a stop light there right now. The intersection works well right now. If a new grocery store is built on the corner, the County should get community input on an intersection design and a roundabout versus a signal. Nelson stated he appreciates the efforts of the community in trying to get these issues resolved. He asked about the Drayton Harbor Road. There was discussion on what to do with it. He asked what the community said about it. Rutan stated there is a wide range of opinions on what to do with the Drayton Harbor Road. When the road originally washed out, the Public Works Department staff had to consider whether or not they wanted to fix it. It will be expensive. They propose to do slope work at a cost of about $1 million to repair and reopen the road. He understands the arguments against doing the repair. One argument is that the slope repair will cost about the same, no matter how they develop the road. Another option is to not repair the slope and provide access to the houses in the back, but that's difficult because of right -of -way acquisition, permitting, and the existing garage orientation. During the Lincoln Road construction, Drayton Harbor Road will be an alternate traffic route. After the Lincoln Road construction, they can reconsider what to do with it. There is interest in having it closed to auto traffic and make it a bike and pedestrian mall. Nelson asked if financing is to do the current repairs. Rutan stated it is to repair the road to its condition prior to failure. Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Fleetwood asked about the report that comes from the $30,000 for Lincoln Road. Rutan stated the report is a design and scoping report, to look at the different cross - section alternatives and impacts on environment, traffic, costs, development, and the three intersections. In that study, they will also look at the Blaine Road and Birch Bay Lynden Road intersection. They are going to go from a quiet, dead -end road to an arterial road. They're going to try to not make it look like an urban road. Fleetwood asked about the possible stormwater device in the middle of the design. He asked if it can be designed with trees. Rutan stated an option for the road is a center median drainage system for water runoff. There may be trees if they can be far enough off the road that they aren't a hazard. Staff will look at that option. The advantage is to force all the access along the Lincoln Road to be right in /right out access only. They don't have to worry about left turn lanes and driveways. They will have to build roundabouts at the intersections for those who want to turn left. The roundabouts are a traffic - calming feature and the median gives it a nicer look. Fleetwood asked the likely speed limit. Rutan stated the likely speed limit would be 35 miles per hour or less. Brenner moved to amend the six -year plan regarding Lincoln Road, project 17. Provide funding in the amount of $30,000 in 2006; $200,000 in preliminary engineering in 2007, and; $120,000 in 2008 for preliminary engineering, $250,000 for right -of -way acquisition, and $5 million for construction. Rutan stated the County Executive made a commitment for the $5 million. The request include a new full -time equivalent (FTE) employee who will spend half time on this for the next couple of years. The other half time would be spent on project 63. McShane asked if the determination will be made later about what projects might have to be delayed or moved down on the list to accommodate the Lincoln Road project. Rutan stated the Executive assured him Lincoln Road would be funded with new funding outside the Road fund so nothing will have to change. The impact fees will be a small percentage of the funding. Caskey- Schreiber asked if funding for Lincoln Road will come from the real estate excise tax (REET) fund. Rutan stated he believes the REET fund will fund some of it. As 2008 approaches, he expects a little more from the road fund to be available. Nelson stated capacity, not funding, is the major issue. Rutan stated that to make this project go faster, he compressed the two -year process of design, right - of -way, permitting, and acquisition into 15 months. That concerns him because those tasks are out of his control. They will have to actually move houses and people out of their houses for this project. Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. McShane asked if the project includes a creek - crossing. Rutan stated it does. There is a fish issue and a forested wetland issue. Roy stated one funding issue is that the Council is going to have to approve funding. It's not a done deal. Once they do the design and preliminary engineering, and if someone comes up with some other way, that would be great. However, this seems to be the route that needs to be taken. She asked if the County could get grants now that they are starting the preliminary phases. Rutan stated the County could. It hasn't scored well during grant application review because the road is not a through -route and there were no matching funds. Now, grant funding will be more likely because of other funding sources, matches, and the fact that the project is a cooperative project with other jurisdictions. Roy stated they need to get started with preliminary work to be eligible for grant funds. Caskey- Schreiber stated she would prefer to construct the road around the houses instead of moving the houses as much as possible. Rutan stated it depends on how the road affects wetlands, utilities, and right -of -way cost versus the cost of moving the house. The intersection of Lincoln Road and Blaine Road has a house that is very close right now. He will be back in 2006 with what they've discovered. Under the funding status for this project, there is an "S" for secured. Change it to "P" for planned. There is no secure funding at this point. The committee concurred. Motion carried unanimously. Rutan stated the second issue is that the six -year plan has six years of construction on it and nine years of planning. There are preliminary engineering plans in year six for projects that will be built in years nine or ten. He submitted a list of projects (on file) that have a small amount of money for preliminary engineering. They are placeholder projects that will hopefully move up on the plan over time. Now, people think the projects on the six -year plan will be done in six years. They are not. He proposes that they remove about 20 of the 25 projects listed. Also, he recommends adding two of projects on this list, which are the Birch Bay Lynden Road and Blaine Road intersection and the Birch Bay Lynden Road and Portal Way intersection. Those two projects aren't in the plan now. He is hearing reports of development at those intersections. If those projects are on the list, the developers can pay the costs of those projects. Brenner stated she prefers to wait until a later meeting. She keeps hearing that making more lanes is not the answer. Of these projects on the list, she would like to have more information. She is opposed to any projects that widen the road. Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. Rutan stated many roads are to be widened for safety reasons. The second most effective thing to reduce fatalities, by about 40 percent, is to provide a clear zone and recovery area, such as a shoulder area. Many of the projects are to straighten roads, provide site distance, provide shoulders, and provide bike facilities. Brenner stated the idea of straightening and widening roads may cause people to speed more. In the county, it's okay to not have straight roads. There are other projects that are more important. Caskey- Schreiber stated the idea of removing projects from the list is good. The County can't do it all. Don't put a project on the plan that they can't do. She supports the Birch Bay Lynden Road and Portal Way intersection being a true intersection. Now, traffic backs up on the freeway. Rutan stated there is a signal design for that location. He hopes to put it on the plan so developers can pay for it. Nelson stated he doesn't have a problem with taking things off the six -year road program. He has a problem with not having perspective for planning purposes, which may require attention due to changes in the Comprehensive Plan or changes in future development. They should keep an eye on those things. If they take the projects off the plan, then tie the projects to the Comprehensive Plan to let the public know the County is watching these areas. Rutan stated the list remains an important list for identifying new projects. The Comprehensive Plan is where they should look at it. Get proactive on the issues. Roy stated she would like more information. She wonders how many of these roads are in the urban growth areas (UGA's). In an ideal world, each of these projects would get a greater in -depth look down the road. Rutan stated there is $20,000 on the list now. The department is not going to do anything with the projects. They spend more time looking at roads that aren't on the list. He would propose that seven or eight of the unfunded projects remain: • Number 18. There have been 14 fatalities out there. The project addresses traffic calming. • Number 19. The road rating of this road is the worst in the county. The project will be very expensive. There is no storm drainage off the road. • Number 20. This project was funded for construction for a sidewalk, bike lane, and pavement repair. • Number 21 is to install left hand turn lanes. • Number 23 will connect Birch Bay Drive to Shintaffer and Lincoln Roads. • Number 24 will be a portion of the Coast Millennium Trail. • Number 27 is in conjunction with the City of Bellingham and others. • Number 44 would include a pedestrian facility. • Number 50 is a bridge project that may be viable for bridge rehabilitation funds. Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. • Number 52 will be a project to keep on the list so people are kept aware of it for many years. It is important for the long -term development of the county. Give people a greater sense that a project on the six -year plan is actually being worked on. Caskey- Schreiber asked if traffic impact fees are more likely if a project is on the list. Rutan stated traffic impact fees are used for capacity improvements in the impacted zone in which they are collected. They will have future capacity issues in the Birch Bay area, for example, but not in the Acme Valley. The projects he recommends removing are safety enhancement projects, not capacity improvements. (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) Caskey- Schreiber asked if the fees collected from transportation impact fees can't be applied to already- identified problems. Rutan stated that's correct. If the traffic level already warrants a signal at an intersection, they can't use the impact fees for it. However, projects have to be on the six -year plan. Brenner asked if impact fees can be applied to add to the project. Rutan stated they can't apply fees if an intersection is already required to have a signal. Nelson stated he has some concerns. He has a stronger concern about Lake Louise Road not being on the list. Rutan stated they are doing Lake Louise from Cable Street to Gate 13 in 2008. It is project 16. They need to continue the project from Gate 13 to Whatcom Boulevard. The volume drops off after Gate 13. The projects that come off the list can still be on the list in the future. Nelson asked if it is more important to do the Northshore Road project than the Lake Louise Road project. Rutan stated it is because the Northshore Road pavement is in such bad shape. The Northshore Road project will have some of the most involved public meetings they've ever had. Caskey- Schreiber asked why they don't leave it. The volume isn't great. Rutan stated the volume is great in some places. There have been a number of deaths and accidents at a level that is shocking, given the volume. The pavement is deteriorating. Nelson asked if they have looked at an alternate route. Rutan stated there are other routes. Those are political decisions. The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee wants to create a loop facility around the lake as a draw. The project needs to be undertaken also for maintenance reasons. Roy stated she agrees with making the six -year plan as realistic as possible to send a clear message to the community. Clean up the list. They should also Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. take the Public Works Department's view of this list. She is comfortable with the recommendation to amend the plan. McShane stated he tries as much as he can to move safety projects up higher on the list. That should be the most important factor, instead of convenience. Having narrow roads is appealing, but they kill people. He's not that big on capacity versus safety. He's surprised there is a project in the plan that is preliminary, without committed money, even though the Executive said he would contribute funding. Rutan stated one issue is that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) grants funds for a road after preliminary engineering is done, and then the County only has four years to spend the money on construction. The designation is preliminary in case the money doesn't come in. There are reasons for that preliminary designation. McShane stated the top two unfunded projects are safety issues. Start thinking about addressing capacity some way other than with roads. Rutan stated he will be more apt to come to the Council with a recommendation to change the six -year plan when a funding source becomes available for a project that isn't on the list. McShane stated society is too dependent on cars. Nelson asked where the rest of the projects would go once they are off the list. Rutan stated staff would develop a document in -house that will serve as a watch list. He will look into putting those projects into the Comprehensive Plan. Nelson stated those projects should be in the Capital Facilities Plan section of the Comprehensive Plan. Brenner moved to amend the six -year road plan to include those roads that were recommended by the Public Works Department, and to add the two projects. Rutan stated he recommends because they are culvert projects that are funded. Brenner amended her motion to also leave projects 54 and 64 on the list. Nelson suggested a friendly amendment to put the removed items in the Public Works Committee for a discussion on inclusion in the Capital Facilities Plan of the Comprehensive Plan. Brenner accepted Councilmember Nelson's suggestion as a friendly amendment. Motion carried unanimously. Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DISCLAIMER: This document contains the Whatcom County Council or Committee minutes, as approved. However, unless an attested signature page is attached, they are not the final approved minutes. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m. Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription ATTEST: Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Barbara Brenner, Committee Chair Public Works and Safety Committee, 6/21/2005, Page 8