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1 of 15 Funding Application Competition Regional FHWA Application Type Corridors Serving Centers Status submitted Submitted: April 19th, 2018 9:00 PM Prepopulated with screening form? No Project Information 1. Project Title North Creek Regional Trail - Bothell to Mill Creek 2. Regional Transportation Plan ID 4016, 4172 3. Sponsoring Agency Snohomish County 4. Cosponsors City of Bothell 5. Does the sponsoring agency have "Certification Acceptance" status from WSDOT? Yes 6. If not, which agency will serve as your CA sponsor? N/A Contact Information 1. Contact name Tracy McMillan 2. Contact phone 425-388-3815 3. Contact email [email protected] Project Description 1. Project Scope This application is co-sponsored by Snohomish County and the City of Bothell for the North Creek Regional Trail. It is a partially developed regional shared-use path that links the Cities of Bothell, Mill Creek and Everett, via the Interurban Trail. At its Southern end, it connects with the Regional Sammamish River/Burke-Gilman Trail (King County) and at its Northern end, it connects with the Interurban Trail (Snohomish County). Where it is built out, the multi- purpose trail mostly consists of a separated 10-12 foot wide paved section. Some portions are elevated over critical areas. At the locations where the trail is not built out, users must default to sidewalks and bicycle lanes along city streets or state highways. These default options are not practical for users of all ages and abilities. The average daily traffic volumes on SR 527 exceed 39,000 vehicles and posted speeds range from 35-45 mph. Once built out, the North Creek Trail will provide non-motorized connectivity from the County’s fastest urban growth area to three significant Regional Growth Centers: Everett, Lynnwood and Bothell/Canyon Park. 2 of 15 The principal gaps in the overall continuity of the North Creek Trail are located in unincorporated Snohomish County between SR 524 and 183rd St SE (North Creek Park) and in the City of Bothell between the SR 524/9th Ave SE intersection and North Creek Trail section 3 just west of the Bothell Everett Highway. The Snohomish County construction cost of this 2.4 mile gap is estimated at $18M. The City of Bothell's construction cost of their 0.42 mile gap of Phase 1 of Section 4 from 9th Ave SE to west of the North Creek Bridge is estimated at a cost of $2.14M. For purposes of maximizing construction funding opportunities and based on the geographical conditions, Bothell has divided their project into sections. This project area is for Section 4 - Phase 1. Snohomish County has divided their gap into three severable sections based on engineering considerations, primarily drainage. This grant request is for Phase 2 of 3 (between Waxen Road and 183rd ST SE.) The proposed trail will be a two-way multi-use facility adjacent to SR 527. It typically consists of twelve feet of pavement bounded by two 2-foot shoulders. Where the trail is within a road right of way, it will typically be separated from the road by five feet. The central portion of the trail will be elevated over wetlands. The Army Corps of Engineers and resource agencies have approved this concept and mitigation parcels required for critical area mitigation. The project is located in the SW Urban Growth Area (the County’s fastest growing urban area) and it will provide access to business centers and improve non-motorized access opportunities to transit along SR 524 and SR 527. SR 527/Bothell Everett Highway is currently served by two local Community Transit service routes – 105 and 106 which average over 4500 passenger boardings per day. The project will also provide access to the next phase of Community Transit’s Swift Bus, Swift II, which will run along SR 527 in the vicinity of the project. The County and Community Transit are collaborating on non-motorized east-west connections to access this service from the trail. Swift II will connect the Canyon Park P&R, the Bothell/Canyon Park business and industrial park, a Regional Growth Center, the County designated Urban Center of Mill Creek, the Paine Field/Boeing Everett Manufacturing Industrial Center, and the Boeing Seaway Transit Center. Swift 2 is in the Project Development phase. Initial ridership is projected at 3300 passengers per day; service is planned to start in 2018, substantially concurrent with the development of the project contained in this application depending on funding. SnoCo: Snohomish County Public Works is proposing to build Phase Two of Three of the North Creek Regional Trail between SR524 and 183rd ST SE (North Creek Park). The entire proposed 2.4 miles of trail will fill a significant gap in the coordinated regional trail system. The proposed paved trail will accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, wheelchair users, in-line skaters, and other non-motorized users. The trail will provide access to recreation, employment and retail centers; improve local connections between communities and neighborhoods; provide an alternative to driving; encourage physical activity and connect to other trails and pedestrian facilities. The trail will enhance non-motorized accessibility to both UW Bothell and Cascadia Colleges. The County's portion of the North Creek Trail is located in the fastest growing urban growth area (UGA) in SW Snohomish County. NEPA is approved for all three phases of the North Creek Trail. All three phases have ROW except for WSDOT concurrence which will happen four to six weeks prior to construction obligation. Bothell: The North Creek Trail Section 4 is the last missing segment of the North Creek Trail within the City of Bothell. This proposed trail will be built along the south side of SR 524. At the western terminus of this proposed project, it will tie to the designed Snohomish County North Creek Regional Trail. To the east it will connect to the City’s recently built North Creek Trail Section 3 project. Exhibit #2 represents the potential trail alignment of the North Creek Trail Section 4. Construction of this 0.58 mile project will complete a continuous non-motorized trail system starting from the north of SR 524 in South Snohomish County to the Regional Trail of Sammamish users must default to sidewalks and bicycle lanes along the SR 524 which the average daily traffic volumes exceed 21,000 vehicles with the average operating speed of ±45 mph. These default options are not user-friendly for all ages and abilities. Bothell’s North Creek Trail Section 4 will be constructed in two phases and this application exclusively focuses on the Phase 1 construction. Phase I of this project is located between the SR 524 and 9th Ave SE intersection and west of the North Creek Bridge. The project elements include a 10 foot shared use asphalt trail, a planting strip, retaining walls, traffic signal equipment relocation, utility relocation, and ADA ramps. The ADA compliant crossings at the signalized intersection of SR 524 and 9th Ave SE will be installed. Exhibits #3 shows the design cross-sections of the proposed North Creek Trail Section 4 Phase 1 project. All of the environmental documents have been prepared and are expected to be approved by the end of 2018. The right of way acquisition process is expected to begin in January 2019. The funding has been secured for both design and right of way phases of the Bothell’s North Creek Trail Section 4 project. 2. Project Justification, Need, or Purpose With the recent funding of the southerly phase (Phase 1), this collaborative project almost With the recent funding of the southerly phase (Phase 1), this collaborative project almost 3 of 15 closes the largest remaining gap in the North Creek Regional Trail in Snohomish County. Closing this gap will provide the next to last cornerstone of the full range of alternatives to single occupancy vehicles in the City of Bothell and in the County’s SW UGA. SnoCo: Four cornerstones to this strategy are being laid concurrently: 1.) the trail itself; 2.) Transportation System Management (TSM) through Adaptive Signals in all transit emphasis corridors intersecting with and/or bordering the project; 3.) Transportation Demand Management in partnership with Community Transit and; 4.) the development of Swift 2. The current construction cost estimate for closing this gap is $18M; the County is requesting $3.25M in STP funding. Closure of this gap will essentially complete North Creek Trail to the extent that it will provide a safe, comfortable, transit coordinated, non-motorized facility between Everett and the Sammamish River Trail in north King County; it will integrate with, support and be supported by the aforementioned mobility management programs offering alternatives to single occupancy vehicles while supporting growth and service standards required by GMA. North Creek Trail is a partially developed regional shared use path that links the Cities of Bothell, Mill Creek and Everett. At its Southern end, it connects with the Regional Sammamish River/Burke-Gilman Trail (King County); at its Northern end, it connects with the Interurban Trail (Snohomish County). The principal gap in the overall continuity of the North Creek trail is located in unincorporated Snohomish County between SR 524 and 183rd St SE (North Creek Park). The North Creek Regional Trail is planned to provide non-motorized connection from and within the County’s fastest growing urban area to three significant Regional Growth Centers (Everett, Lynnwood, and Bothell Canyon Park), the Paine Field/Boeing-Everett Manufacturing Industrial Center and the locally designated Urban Center of Mill Creek. Transportation 2040, Active Transportation Plan (ATP), identifies this undeveloped section of North Creek Trail as a Tier 1 component of the Regional Bicycle Network.