Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

TAC MINUTES November 18, 2021 In attendance: Members Staff Guests Hal Gausman Liz Vogeli, City Council Brett Barrett Tyler Rourke Michael Schmieder, Transit Bob Creamer Andrea DePaolo Tim Morgan, Police Carl Leighty Michael Thomas Tom Hood, Public Works Ben Watanabe Gracie Geremia Kathleen Baxter, Public Works Christina Strand Richard Smith Corey Hert, Public Works Dana Oliver Jeffrey Marks, Public Works Colton Scott Davis Ryan Sass, Public Works Kern McGee Christina Curtis, Public Works Meeting called to order at 8:02 a.m. by Chair Tyler Rourke. ➢ M/S/P for October 2021 Minutes. Announcements & Requests to Add Agenda Items ➢ Hal requested a status on the railroad tracks near the water considering landslides. Tom Hood indicated WSDOT is leading an effort to get grant funding to build short debris walls on uphill sides. ➢ Hal asked after any plans to include a bike trail or other trail system along the railroad corridor. Tom said he was not aware of any particular plans. ➢ Tyler followed up on the week without driving challenge from October. He would like an agenda item on how the City’s transportation can change in order to address carbon emissions. Public Comments ➢ Carl Leighty wanted to point everyone to Community Transit’s survey. CT is looking for comments for when light rail comes to Lynnwood. He posted the link in the chat. https://www.communitytransit.org/news/community-transit-news/2021/11/15/snohomish- county-invited-to-help-redesign-bus-network-for-arrival-of-light-rail Engineering Report ➢ Tom provided updates regarding the following projects: o Watermain “V” Project. All the work is done in the Ridgemont neighborhood. 1  o Watermain work on Pine Street and Hewitt. The watermain is scheduled to be in by the end of the month, with some service connections to follow. o California Bicycle Corridor. The public input phase closes on November 23rd. From there, the City will move to a preferred alternative then design. ➢ Tom gave a quick rundown of projects slated for next summer: o 2022 Summer Paving Project. This will focus on W Casino Rd and E Casino Rd, 100th St SE from 19th Ave SE to the City limits and other locations. o Water “W” Project. This will replace some cast iron water mains in the Wilmington neighborhood and Hoyt near 43rd Street. Traffic Engineering Report ➢ Corey provided updates regarding the following projects: o Closure of Colby and Hewitt to California for Small Business Saturday is scheduled to occur on November 27. o The Downtown Everett Association has purchased lighted decorations that will be installed under the crosswalk beacons along Colby. o Holiday decorations will be installed downtown on Saturday, November 20th, and Sunday, November 21st. Public Works will install the tree at the quadra- angle signal bridge on Saturday the 20th, likely around 9 a.m. ➢ Corey mentioned that there will not be a meeting in December. ➢ This is Richard Smith’s last year on TAC in Position 3. Since he has not filled terms in excess of 6 years, he has agreed to fill in the remaining year of Position 4. ➢ Michael Thomas moved out of the City of Everett and Corey thanked him for finishing out his the year and the service he has provided. Police Report ➢ Sergeant Morgan provided the following update: o As we get closer to December, Target Zero teams of Snohomish County will be conducting holiday DUI patrols. Transit Report ➢ Michael provided the following updates: o New service changes were implemented on October 24th. ▪ Moving Route 29 to every 30 minutes during the week instead of 45 minutes ▪ Route 6 was re-instated. ▪ Route 4 was re-alligned to serve the Riverside Business Park. ▪ Route 2 went to 7-day a week service. o We have added a net increase of ridership of 283 since the service change. That will carry out to an annual increase to 14,716. o Transit is currently continuing pandemic monitoring, Transit had its highest ridership to date post-pandemic. 2  ➢ Michael reported that the electric bus replacement schedule continues. ➢ Bob Creamer requested information about Transit and expected increase in vessels coming into the Naval Station, as well as Route 6 going to the College. Michael stated Transit has not received a request from Naval Station Everett. Ridership is low to the College, classes are still being held virtually. Transit will continue to monitor. ➢ Hal brought up an earlier concept of microtransit, where a service like Uber or other form of transportation provides first and last mile. He asked if a future agenda item could cover the design ideas for changing the bus stop areas to accommodate the microtransit environment. Agenda Items: Item 1: California St Bicycle Corridor: Alternatives- Requested Action: Recommend Alternatives ➢ Corey Hert explained that the goal of the agenda item was to have members of the TAC review the previous presentation and respond in one of three ways: 1) Recommend all of the alternatives be brought forward. 2) Abstain from any comment, in which case all alternatives would then be brought forward. 3) Provide a recommendation for a preferred alternative or exclude one of the alternatives. ➢ The alternatives from last month were reviewed: a) Maple Street b) Pine Street c) Pine Alleyway ➢ Hall expressed interest in maintaining consistency in design. Though he liked the Pine Alleyway alternative, he felt it was too different from already established norms. ➢ Hal also asked about how the connection to US2. The US2 trail is slated as a future portion of this project, which will also include public comments. ➢ Richard Smith said his choice would be the one that provides the best safety to bicyclists. ➢ Tyler said he thought all of the alternatives had merit, but an emphasis needs to be put on traffic calming measures. He felt that if Maple was busier than Pine, he would prefer the Pine St alternative. ➢ Tyler suggested a route that would avoid any left turns. That makes the Pine Alley alternative less desirable. ➢ Hal concurred with Tyler that Pine Street seemed a better alternative to Maple and Pine Alley. ➢ California Street section alternatives were reviewed. a) Cycle track (north) and back-in angle parking b) Cycle track (north) and parallel parking c) Cycle track (south) and parallel parking d) Buffered bicycle lanes and parallel parking 3  e) Traditional bicycle lanes and parallel parking ➢ Hal preferred option (d). He mentioned it fit with what most cyclists in the City are accustomed to. ➢ Tyler talked briefly about the PUD electric car charging stations. He also spoke about the Seattle Arboretum’s website, where they post “how to get here” information in the order of bicycle, transit, then private vehicle. ➢ Tyler indicated he was not in favor of option (e). ➢ Kern McGee, Downtown Everett Board of Directors and citizen, commented on a thriving urban life, the more people we can serve in our City not arriving in a car-size footprint, the more vibrant you can get your urban places. Item 2: Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant Program Projects - Informational Briefing, Christina Curtis, Public Works ➢ Christina spoke about about upcoming grant projects. 1) PSRC Transportation Alternatives Program 2) WSDOT Pedestrian & Bicycle Program ➢ PSRC Transportation Alternatives Program • Community-based improvements • $13.5M available total during 2022-2024 • Application limits: o 2 projects per agency o $2.5M per project • Due December 3, 2021 ➢ Project under consideration: Everett/WSDOT/Marysville TAP application • SR 529 active transportation improvements o Ramp improvements from E Marine View Drive in Everett to SR529 o WSDOT’s intent is a barrier separating two-way pedestrian bicycle path on 529 between bridges o Striping changes to the bridges o Wayfinding between Everett and Marysville • Possible joint Everett, Marysville and WSDOT application ➢ WSDOT Pedestrian & Bicycle Program • Enhance safety and mobility • $23.1M awarded statewide for 2021-2023 biennium ➢ WSDOT Pedestrain & Bicycle Program – Application Scoring Criteria a) Safety (40%) b) Equity (16%) c) Deliverability (12%) d) Value (14%) e) Quality (18%) ➢ 2022 Pedestrain & Bicycle Program Project Analysis – 12 Projects Analyzed ➢ Five projects recommended from the analysis: 1) Boeing bicycle connector: Sievers-Duecy Blvd 4  2) Boeing bicycle/pedestrian connector: 75th Street SW 3) 12th Street pedestrian/bicycle corridor 4) Beverly Lane bicycle corridor 5) Californa Street pedestrian/bicycle corridor (west of Broadway) ➢ There was discussion about connections north/south to EVCC. Christina said that a future project include a connection on 10th Street, which will connect to the bike lanes on Colby, to the north/south bike corridor on Hoyt, to the Interurban Trail. ➢ Richard asked about connection to the Delta neighborhood. Christina said it would be connected via 12th Street. The bike boulevard on Poplar and Baker would provide a north/south corridor. ➢ Richard asked about how walkability and access to businesses along Broadway would be affected if the bicycle corridor is away from the main thoroughfare of Broadway. Christina explained that the east/west connections provide access to Broadway and services, including buses. ➢ Ryan Sass provided some context in that this is one particular grant program and how projects are prioritized. He didn’t want the committee to consider the projects being pursued here as the only priorities. There are other funding opportunities for other projects. ➢ Councilmember Vogeli stated that it was not permitted to ride a bike on the sidewalk in the downtown area; it should be permissible to ride bicycles on the sidewalk along Broadway. ➢ Tyler asked that the City continue to push for funding for the Colby/Beverly corridor, as he encounters vehicle harrassment in that area. ➢ Tyler talked about 75th Street. He thought a 12-foot span for pedestrians was a good idea, not preferred for bicyclists on the downward slope. He recommended a protected bike lane on the eastbound side. ➢ Motion made for TAC to support the Everett/WSDOT/Marysville application due December 3rd. M/S/P. ➢ Tyler suggested revisiting the five preferred grant choices at the next TAC meeting in January 2022. Item 3: Selection of 2022 TAC Chair and Vice Chair ➢ Tabled until next meeting in January, 2022. Next Scheduled Meeting: January 20, 2022 5