Everett Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

CITY OF EVERETT Transportation Advisory Committee TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, April 18th, 2024 8:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Microsoft Teams Virtual Meeting In attendance: Members Staff Guests Stephen Fickenscher Corey Hert, Public Works Kern McGee Christina Strand Tom Hood, Public Works Bryan Partington Danielle Wilkins Derek Jones, Public Works Karissa Miller, Public Works Daniel Evans Sarrah Superville, Public Works Thomas McCleave Nataya Foss, Public Works Hal Gausman Gerardo Magallanes, Public Works Sonja Bodge Michael Schmieder, Transit Vinh Ngo Alessandra Gonzalez, Transit Matt Coomes, Transit Craig Davis, Police Meeting called to order at 8:02 a.m. by Stephen Fickenscher. ➢ M/S/P: March minutes with amendments – Bicycle wayfinding update, transit and school districts sharing electric buses, definition of parking, requirements for bicycle parking and utilizing data from Bird to evaluate bicycle parking needs. ANNOUNCEMENTS & REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ➢ Discrepancy discovered between Google and transit website regarding Skagit 90X. Additionally, Google recommends an unsafe bike route from EVCC to Mill Town Trail. Traffic Engineering will investigate how to reach Google to update their maps. ➢ Inquiry on the process of how traffic impacts on I-5 are communicated to the city. WSDOT does not typically utilize the overhead electronic signs to communicate impacts on city streets, just State highways. The City Traffic Engineer it the current point of contact for WSDOT and is notified during normal business hours for major incidents. ➢ Request for update on hiring a new traffic signal operations engineer; interviews complete and a candidate should be hired very soon. Concerns expressed regarding length of pedestrian timing; crossing times will be evaluated and increased once there is a traffic signal engineer on board, coordinated corridors will require retiming if pedestrian intervals are increased dramatically. ➢ Concern regarding system capacity and at what point will our transportation system get oversaturated due to increase in population. Discussed changes that need to be made to accommodate the projected population growth in the Comprehensive Plan. Significant change will be mode shift, creating attractive options, with public transit having the most potential but also active transportation. ➢ Question regarding outreach for downtown bike rack program; Downtown Everett Association facilitates with business owners. There could be consideration for expanding that program beyond just downtown in the future, downtown was grant funded for the racks. ➢ Request to discuss Everett’s cruising ordinance on future agenda item. 1 |Page  CITY OF EVERETT Transportation Advisory Committee ENGINEERING REPORT ➢ Freight mobility study: Open house held on April 25th to discuss alternatives being considered. ➢ I5/US2 interchange study: Nearing the end of this project; final report will be published in May. ➢ 2024 pavement maintenance overlays: expecting Council to award contract on May 8th; streets that will be impacted – W Casino between Airport and Evergreen Way, 41st St east of Colby to the bridge over Broadway, Pacific from Fulton St to Pine St, and a significant section of 37th St. ➢ Reservoir 3: Phase 1 is advertised for construction, scheduled open bids beginning of May. TRAFFIC ENGINEERING REPORT ➢ Photo enforcement: Horizon school zone warnings began on April 3rd; preparations for citations to begin on May 6th. Operating speeds have already shown improvement, crossing guards reporting noticeable change in driver behavior. ➢ Safe Streets fir All: Local firm Kimley-Horn has been selected, plenty of regional and national experience doing safety work. Expect they will introduce themselves at the next meeting. A technical steering committee will be created to include police, emergency services, representatives from administration, Council, and TAC. ➢ WSDOT projects: Marine View Drive to 529 widening project slated to begin in May, expect severe congestion in N Everett. Beginning May 6th, weather permitting, SR 529 into Marysville will be closed to one lane 24 hours per day across the Snohomish River Bridge for an ongoing bridge rehabilitation project. Beginning May 28th, the entire bridge will be closed, and traffic will be directed with one lane each on the SB alignment; expected to last 14-18 weeks. High impact to north Everett. POLICE REPORT ➢ Traffic detectives attended collision reconstruction training, big win for the department. Important so that crashes can be fully investigated, and that the quality of investigations holds up in criminal court. ➢ Police is partnering with Washington Association of Technical Accident Investigators to host a car versus pedestrian crash class in June. ➢ Intersection takeover trend is returning with the nicer spring weather in the south Sound; taking precautions to be sure Everett isn’t a recipient of these kind of takeovers. High risk to observers and other pedestrians. ➢ School speed zone cameras are operating now, and red-light cameras will be commissioned in the coming months. ➢ Question about enforcing illegal alterations to cars: noise ordinance, tinted windows, etc. are enforceable by police, and they will enforce equipment violations when necessary. TRANSIT REPORT ➢ A vendor has been selected for collision avoidance system hardware. System will be installed on one bus and one paratransit vehicle. Operators will be testing to see how it helps them. Systems will provide front and side sensing proximity alerts to alert operator of pedestrians, cyclists, in daylight and lowlight, and in complex environments; also provides an exterior audio alert for pedestrians or cyclists who enter the danger zone of the vehicle while turning. ➢ Evaluating Rosco Collision Avoidance e-Mirrors, replacing glass side mirrors with cameras. ➢ Demonstration will be open for other nearby agencies to evaluate if it can help their systems. 2 |Page  CITY OF EVERETT Transportation Advisory Committee AGENDA ITEMS ➢ 6-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP): o Required by state law as part of the Growth Management Act. TIP advises the Comprehensive Plan update; transportation element of the Comprehensive Plan sets policies for our transportation system and those polices guide which projects get on the list. o The TIP is a financially unconstrained list: adopted by Council and authorizes staff to seek funding for these projects without having to go back to Council for each project individually. o Process for TIP adoption: ▪ Begins with briefing to TAC. ▪ TAC and Planning Commission recommends to City Council to adopt the document. ▪ Briefing presented to City Council, and an adoption by resolution at the following meeting. ▪ State statutory requirement each year adopted by June 30th. ▪ Once resolution is adopted by Council, it’s then forwarded to the Washington State Department of Transportation and meets our obligation under Growth Management Act. ➢ Grant Funding: o Three primary funding avenues: ▪ Grants from state and federal agencies. ▪ Loans through Public Works Trust Fund loans. ▪ Local/internal funding is limited. o Grants – financial assistance available to fulfill specific processes. ▪ Awarded on a reimbursable basis. ▪ Discretionary grants have competitive grant funding. ▪ Non-discretionary grants are formula driven, anyone that applies will receive a percentage of funding. ▪ Majority of transportation project funding comes from discretionary grants. ▪ Important to only apply for funding that is a good fit for projects, various factors to consider. o Loans – provided by Public Works Board to local governments. ▪ Repair, replace or create infrastructure. ▪ Used infrequently, more expensive, accrues interest. ▪ Qualifying projects may receive reduced interest rates or partial grant funding. o Local Funds – come from property tax allocations and are limited. ▪ Fund 119 – Street Improvement ▪ Fund 157 – Traffic Mitigation ▪ Used for grants that require local funding match and for projects budgeted in annual funding ordinance. o Ways the City present competitive grant applications: ▪ Community support. ▪ Applying for projects that are already adopted in a transportation improvement plan. ▪ Having local funding match already secured. 3 |Page  CITY OF EVERETT Transportation Advisory Committee ➢ Bike Everywhere Day: o Businesses that have over 100 employees commuting between 6-9am are required by law to promote alternate modes of transportation: ▪ Providing bike racks/lockers. ▪ Offering subsidies/incentives. o May is Bike Everywhere Month. o Bike Everywhere Day will be hosted at Everett Station on May 17th from 8:00am- 12:00pm ▪ City departments will be available to inform on improvements to bicycle facilities, how to register bikes, ▪ A bike repair station will be presented by Sharing Wheels. ▪ Three bike shops will be in attendance. ▪ ET will have electric bus on site. ▪ Free community event with games, educational materials, and prizes. Adjournment: 9:43 a.m. Next Scheduled Meeting: May 16, 2024 4 |Page