Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES November 16, 2017 In attendance: Members Staff Guests T.J. Fournier Jeffrey Marks, Public Works Ryan Spivey J.T. Dray Sabina Popa, Transit Bob Creamer Victor Harris George Baxter, Transit M.J. Donovan-Creamer William Weber Tom Hingson, Transit Rick Proctor Richard Smith Paul Kaftanski, Administration Dan Scott Christina Curtis Ryan Sass, Public Works Aaron Gooze Robert Strickland Meeting was called to order at 8:05 a.m. chaired by T.J. Fournier.  M/S/P for October 2017 minutes. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items  Ryan thanked J.T. Dray for his service on the committee, stating that he admired J.T.’s dedication and passion towards improving transit in Everett.  J.T. requested a future TAC item be a visit by Tom Hingson of Transit and Carol Thomas from Cultural Arts regarding the Broadway bus bulb project. He also requested a report from council member Roberts about his service on the policy board of the PSRC. J.T. also requested to hear more about Paratransit.  Victor raised concerns about lighting around the Xfinity Arena, stating that he had almost been hit a few times, especially near Wall Street and Wetmore. He would like more information on how lighting at downtown intersections is evaluated. Citizen’s Comments  J.T. provided a handout about ET’s long range plan scope, mentioning that the committee had only been given 15 hours advanced notice to look it over. He stated that he didn’t believe it really addressed what was going on with Everett Transit and that its intent was not to reveal any real plans for the future. He recounted that surveys were considered “not statistically significant” and felt members of Everett Transit were deliberately trying to hide the department’s plans from the public. He thought that the future of ET needed to be one that included the possibility of ET being combined with Community Transit. He said the Committee should be more active in regards to this. Engineering Report  Ryan mentioned Mayor’s holiday social for boards and commissions would be announced shortly and reminded members that there is no TAC meeting in December.  Ryan reported the Downtown Streetscape 2 project, which is a small continuation of the Hoyt Streetscape from Wall to Pacific, is projected to go out to bid in January, with construction beginning in the summer.  Larger projects on the horizon include the SR526 Freeway Corridor Improvement project in combination with WSDOT; SR529 – I-5 interchange (in partnership with WSDOT and City of Marysville); I-5 northbound shoulder running (Everett Marine View Drive to Marysville during peak hours); US-2 ongoing interchange study at the east end regarding all the lanes that funnel into the trestle. The legislature has also tasked WSDOT to do a funding study to consider alternative funding for a future westbound trestle replacement project.  J.T. reported that some of the larger cities (Seattle and Bellevue) have Transportation Departments, whereas Everett does not. Ryan stated that it was common for larger jurisdictions to have Transportation Departments. He stated Everett’s Public Works Engineering Division was a bit broader in its scope, with its ability to do transportation planning and design along with supporting other engineering needs including utilities, parks and city facilities.  Bob Creamer asked if Hwy 2 was going to be repaved. Ryan stated that WSDOT is planning a resurfacing project. This began some discussion on how neighborhoods can be impacted with traffic when the main highways get jammed. Ryan stated that the City has already been contacted by WSDOT and that the City is working with them to create plans to mitigate the impacts. He stated most of the Hwy 2 repaving will likely be done at night and on weekends to avoid peak-hour times. Mr. Creamer hoped that the public would be given ample time to be aware of the upcoming impacts, to avoid being overly impacted due to the traffic.  M.J. Donovan-Creamer asked how deep the trestle sinks each year and how that should be a factor in decision making. Ryan stated that the State works to make sure it meets the required bridge safety standards.  Victor asked how deep is the bedrock under the river.  Victor expressed his support for the concern of traffic blocking intersections. He stated that it was a law enforcement problem, but when you are tasked with investigating a murder versus traffic, it was obvious where the focus would be. He stated that driver education was again an important component in mitigation. Ryan agreed. Ryan also mentioned that Everett Police does have a dedicated traffic unit. He also said that the City is working with WSDOT to coordinate our signals during troubles on I-5 to mitigate the impacts when possible. More discussion ensued about how traffic flows from I-5 impact city streets. Ryan expressed that the City’s ability to affect this issue will continue to improve with the growth of the fiber optic network connecting our traffic signals.  Richard asked about how the different departments in the City tackle issues, specifically when it comes to traffic. Ryan stated that traffic collects data first, before initiating corrective behavior. The data is shared with Police to allow them to prioritize and select enforcement strategies to affect driver behavior.  Bob Creamer reported about Community Transit rapid bus transit routes in the future across Hwy 2 and SR529. He was curious if the City was going to work with CT in handling traffic signals. Ryan stated that the City already works with CT and has implemented Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and will continue to do so when it comes to the bus rapid transit system. Police Report  None. Transit Report  George and Sabina reported that Transit is putting together a proposal for some minor changes in March. The change is to turn Route 2 from being a circulator to a bi-directional service, which is more consistent with other routes served by the city. Sabina stated there will be outreach to Route 2 riders to see the public’s response and evaluate how the impact may affect them. Some additional discussion ensued on how the survey of riders is conducted.  Aaron Gooze from Fehr & Peers gave a presentation on the Long Range Plan Outreach Review and Financial Summary, as detailed in attached handouts provided by Sabina. Agenda Items: Item 1: North Broadway Transit Improvement Project – 60% Plans  George Baxter gave some more information on the Broadway bus bulb project. The 60% design is just about completed. This project is between 34 th and Tower along the Broadway corridor. It involves 24 bus stops along the corridor. All the bus stops will be provided with bus bulbs where the bus stops in the right lane of travel instead of pulling out of traffic. This will help reduce accidents transit has been involved in.  Relocating 2 bus stops – at 19th at Broadway NB & SB.  NB at 33rd and SB at 34th will not be fitted with shelters.  15 of the stops are far-side stops (bus goes through intersection, then stops); 7 are mid-block (between intersections); 2 are near-side stops (before the intersections).  Stops will have shelters, signs, benches, receptacles, wheel-chair accessible and ADA waiting areas. Where stops have 5 or more boarders per day, schedules will be placed. There was some additional discussion on the logistics for determining when schedules get placed at shelters.  George provided a standard schematic for the type of shelter Transit uses. The shelters are intended to be lit from the inside. They will also have red roofs as opposed to white ones. They are aluminum, to be consistent with the rest of the shelters in the system.  George anticipated that design will be at 90% with potential for bids going out in spring of 2018. At 60%, the design is at 2.29 million cost estimate; the budget being 3 million. Completion of the project is forecasted to be late 2019 or early 2019.  Sabina is working with Carol Thomas (Arts & Cultural). They are working with a company in Seattle in recruiting an artist to help with the artistic theme and look of this project. One artist has already been identified from this effort. The timeline for this part of the project will enter a proposal stage in spring of 2018, with completion either during or after construction.  George anticipates coming back to TAC in late winter or early spring with the 90% completion. Board Member nominations/elections postponed until January 2018.  Adjourned at 9:45 a.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: January 18, 2018