City Council

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 City Council Information: 360.753.8244 Tuesday, October 3, 2017 5:30 PM Council Chambers Study Session 1. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Mayor Cheryl Selby, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jessica Bateman, Councilmember Jim Cooper, Councilmember Clark Gilman, Councilmember Julie Hankins and Councilmember Jeannine Roe 2. BUSINESS ITEM 2.A 17-0680 Downtown Street Improvements Update Senior Planner Sophie Stimson introduced Public Works Director Rich Hoey, Director of Transportation Mark Russell, and representatives of KPG Consulting Sessyle Asato and Paul Fuesel. She noted the purpose of the presentation is to give an update on Downtown Street improvement projects which are part of the Downtown Strategy. Through the presentation she is seeking support to begin a public outreach process on the scope of the near term projects and the concepts for the long term projects. Ms. Stimson reviewed what was learned from the Downtown Strategy. Walkability emerged as a key to Downtown’s success, so making walking more inviting is an emphasis of the work. A need for safer ways to bike through downtown was expressed as well. Transit, truck and car movement are all important considerations as Downtown continues to grow. There is interest in festival streets and protected bike lanes. The concept of creating more pedestrian space by narrowing Capitol Way continues to garner interest. Ms. Stimson noted there are plans to pave five streets in the Downtown core based on their pavement condition rating, along with opportunities for broader improvements to meet the goal of the Downtown Strategy. The improvements will occur to the following streets (listed in order of timing) Legion Way and Franklin Street, Washington Street and Capitol Way. Funding for the street improvements is limited. Ms. Stimson noted $7.5 million has been allocated for the five streets, which can be used to leverage grant funds, allowing for more work to be completed while the streets are already being worked on. Economies of scale can be achieved when multiple needs are addressed in one construction project. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes October 3, 2017 Ms. Stimson discussed keeping the projects which emerged from the Downtown Strategy moving forward as they represent City investment in Downtown infrastructure to advance goals. While there is currently no access to grant funds in the near term, staff would like to move forward with improvements to Legion Way and Franklin Street with available funding. As the scope of these projects get refined, staff want to work with the Council and the public to make the best choices given funding limitations. Ms. Stimson shared proposals for each street project. In the shorter term, staff would like to proceed with Legion Way and Franklin Street projects for 2019/2020 using pavement management funds. These projects include a raised intersection and bike lane striping for Legion Way and bulb outs, sidewalk and tree replacement for Franklin Street. Washington Street and Capitol Way are longer term projects which will use a combination of pavement management funds and grants sometime after 2020. These projects include a protected bike lane, one way and festival street for Washington Street and a lane reduction and wider sidewalks for Capitol Way. With agreement from the Council to move forward with these concepts, next steps are to brief key advisory committees and after the holidays, hold an open house to share the proposals for all four streets. Then staff will meet with individual property owners and businesses to refine the design of Legion Way and Franklin Street and explore construction impacts. Ms. Stimson would like the design of Legion Way and Franklin Street completed in 2018, so construction can begin in 2019. Councilmembers asked clarifying questions. The Council agreed for staff to move forward in bringing the street improvement concepts to the public for further review and exploration. The study session was completed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:31 p.m. City of Olympia Page 2