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Swinomish Transportation Plan THE SWINOMISH TRANSPORTATION PLAN Prepared by Valerie J. Southern - Transportation Consultant The Official Transportation Plan For The Swinomish Indian Reservation Adopted by the Swinomish Indian Senate August 6, 2002 Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Swinomish Office of Planning and Community Development 11430 Moorage Way, P.O. Box 817, La Conner, WA Phone (360) 466-7280 Fax (360) 466-161 THE SWINOMISH TRANSPORTATION PLAN The Official Transportation Plan For The Swinomish Indian Reservation Adopted by the Swinomish Indian Senate August 6, 2002 Prepared by Valerie J. Southern, Transportation Consultant PREFACE Considerable appreciation is extended to those who participated in the development of this document. Early in the planning process, officials of Swinomish tribal government were surveyed, as were officials from federal, state, regional, County and city governments. Their comments offer context and perspective. Those who participated are listed below. From Swinomish government: John Petrich, General Manager - Swinomish Housing/Utilities/Facilities Authority; Larry Campbell, Cultural Resources Planner, Allen Rozema, Natural Resources Planner and August Rozema, Project Development Coordinator - Swinomish Planning and Economic Development Department; Tom J. Schlicker, Chief of Police and Todd Adams, Lieutenant - Swinomish Police Department. From Federal government: Saul Kardouni, Supervisory Highway Engineer, Everett Office and Kyle B. Kitchel, Community Planner, Branch of Roads, Northwest Regional Office - U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. From State government: Paul Johnson, Area Administrator, Harry Haslam, Assistant Local Programs Engineer, Siv Balachandran, Traffic Safety Management and Renee Zimmerman, Transportation Planner - Washington State Department of Transportation. From Regional government: Eric Irelan, Executive Director - Skagit Sub Regional Transportation Planning Organization; Dale O’Brien, Interim Executive Director, Brad Stevens, Operations Manager and Dennis Digges, Operations Supervisor - Skagit Transit. From County government: Steven T. Flude, P.E., Assistant County Engineer, Given Kutz, Traffic Engineer, Forrest Jones, Traffic Engineer and Chris Comeau, Transportation Planning Technician - Skagit County Public Works Department. From City government: Bob Hyde, Director of Public Works and David A. Lervick, City Engineer - City of Anacortes Public Works Department. Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 1 This document was prepared under the auspices of the Swinomish Planning and Economic Development Department. The department’s Natural Resources Planner, Allen Rozema, supervised the project. The department’s GIS specialist, Elissa Fjellman, prepared the document maps and illustrations. Valerie J. Southern – Transportation Consultant wrote the document and provided the necessary transportation planning and management services. Samuel I. Obunike, P.E. of O’Bunco Engineering, Inc. prepared the project cost estimates. Rick Alexander of Traffic Count Consultants, Inc. conducted the traffic count program. Douglas Barnet of Douglas Barnet and Associates provided the SR20 Interchange project information. Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 2 Swinomish Reservation Transportation Plan Update 2002 Table of Contents PREFACE………………………………………………………..………………….. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………………………………….……. 7 I SWINOMISH TRIBE……………………………………………………….. 16 A The Past……………………………………………………………... 16 B The Present………………………………………………………..… 16 B.1 Location…………………………………………….…….. 17 B.2 Population………………………………………….…….. 17 B.3 Housing…………………………………………………... 19 B.4 Employment and Income……………………….………. 19 B.5 Education……………………………………………….… 20 B.6 Tribal Government………………………………………. 20 B.7 Land Ownership…………………………………………. 20 B.8 Land Use……………………………………….…………. 21 B.9 Utilities……………………………………….……………. 21 B.10 Historical/Cultural/Recreational Sites………………….. 23 B.11 Physical Attributes……………………………………….. 23 B.12 Climate…………………………………………………….. 23 B.13 Wildlife……..……………………………………………… 23 B.14 Marine Life……………………………………………….. 24 C The Future…………………………………………………….……. 24 C.1 Marina Development……………………………………. 26 C.2 North End Expansion……………………………….…… 27 C.3 SR20-South March’s Point Interchange….……….…… 27 II SWINOMISH TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM…….…………………..… 30 A Roads…….………………………………………………………….. 30 A.1 1992 Roads Inventory…………………………………… 32 A.2 Functional Classification...………………………………. 34 A.3 Traffic Volumes………………………………………….. 36 A.4 Level-of-Service………………………………………….. 40 A.5 Speeds……………………………………………………. 40 A.6 Accidents………………………………………….………. 41 B Bridges……………………………………………………………….. 41 C Public Transportation…………………………………………..…… 45 C.1 History………………………………………………….….. 45 C.2 Ridership……………………………………………….…. 45 C.3 Fares…………………………………………………….… 45 C.4 Swinomish Service………………………………………. 46 D Non-Motorized………………………………………………………. 47 E Air …………………………………………………………………….. 49 F Ferry………………………………………………………………….. 49 G Freight Rail……………...…………………………………………… 49 H Passenger Rail………………………………………………………. 50 I Maritime……………………………………………………………… 50 Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 3 J Marina and Boat Harbors………….……………………………….. 50 III ISSUES SURVEY 2001……………………………………..…………….. 52 IV TRANSPORTATION DEFICIENCIES AND SCHEDULED 56 IMPROVEMENTS………………………………………………..………… A Roadway Deficiencies……………………………………………… 56 A.1 Reservation Road…………….…………………………. 56 A.2 Snee-Oosh Road……………….……………………….. 58 A.3 Pioneer Parkway………………..……………………….. 60 A.4 Shelter Bay Road……..………………………………….. 60 A.5 Indian Road…………..…………………………………… 61 A.6 McGlinn Island Causeway………………………………. 61 B Public Transportation Deficiencies……….……………………….. 64 C Non-Motorized Deficiencies……………………………………….. 64 D Scheduled Transportation Improvements…….………………….. 68 V SWINOMISH TRANSPORTATION PLAN …………………..…………. 70 A Goal and Objectives……………………………………………….. 70 B Short-Term Recommendations (2002-2008)……………………. 71 C Mid-Term Recommendations (2009- 2015)……………….…….. 89 D Long-Term Recommendations (2016 – 2022)………….……….. 90 VI PROGRAM FUNDING…………………………………………………...… 93 A Federal Funds…………………………………………..…………… 93 B State Funds…………………………………………………………. 108 C Other Funds………………………………………………….……… 112 VII TECHNICAL APPENDIX……………………………………………..…… 116 A Issues Survey………………………………………..……………… 117 B Cost Estimates…………………………………………….……….. 147 C Level of Service Analysis……………………………….…………. 166 D Department of Public Works Model………………………………. 172 E Status of FY2002 IRR Distributions…………………………...…. 175 F Status of State Transportation Funds….…………………..…….. 181 G Plan References…..………………………………………..…….… 185 H BIA Forms 5407…………………………………….………………. 189 Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 4 TABLES 1 Existing and Projected Population 1980-2020…………….…………..… 19 2 Reservation Land by Ownership………………………………………….. 20 3 1992 IRR Inventory – Functional Class and Jurisdiction……………….. 32 4 1992 Roads Inventory……..………………………………………………. 33 5 High Speed Locations…………………………………………….………... 41 6 Location of SKAT Bus Stops………………………………………………. 46 7 Inventory of Pedestrian Facilities…………………………………………. 47 8 Summary of Transportation System Deficiencies………………………. 66 9 Swinomish Tribe 2001 TIP………………………………………………… 68 10 Skagit County 2001 TIP……………………………………………..…….. 69 11 (Recommended) 2002 IRR Inventory – Class and Jurisdiction…….… 74 12 (Recommended) 2002 IRR Inventory – All Facilities…………………… 75 13 (Recommended) 2002 Transportation Improvement Program…….…. 87 14 (Recommended) Twenty-Year Transportation Program……………….. 91 15 Funding Reference Table…………………………………………..……… 94 16 IRR Distributions – Northwest Region……………………………..…….. 97 17 Federal Fund Sources……………………………………………………… 107 18 State Fund Sources………………………………………………..………. 112 19 Other Fund Sources……………………………………………...………… 115 FIGURES 1 Swinomish Reservation – Location……………………………………….. 18 2 Swinomish Reservation – Zoning Classifications……………………….. 22 3 Swinomish Marina Project………………………………..……………….. 28 4 SR20-South March’s Point Interchange Project..……………………….. 29 5 Roads Comprising IRR Inventory……………………………….………... 30 6 Swinomish Reservation Road Network…………………………………. 31 7 Average Daily Traffic and Heavy Vehicle Volumes……………………. 38 8 Average Peak Hour Volumes……………………………………………. 39 9 Speed Data…………………….…………………………………………… 43 10 Accident Data………….……………………………………………..…….. 44 11 Fish Flow Barriers…………………………………………………….….… 63 12 System Deficiencies……………………………………..………………… 67 13 Village Center Improvements…………………………………….…….…. 83 14 Village Walk Trails………………………………………………………….. 84 15 TIP Endorsement Process………………………………………..……..… 88 16 Summary of Recommendations……………………………..……………. 92 Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 5 Swinomish Reservation Transportation Plan 2002 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Swinomish Transportation Plan Page 6 Executive Summary. The goal of this tribal transportation plan is to enable the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services on and to the Swinomish Reservation. The objectives are to: • Strengthen the reservation transportation infrastructure and services; • Update the roads inventory and identify a six-year transportation improvement program for incorporation in federal, state, County and regional funding programs; and • Prepare a twenty-year transportation program, which reflects the cultural, economic and environmental values of the Swinomish people Findings. The Swinomish transportation system represents nearly 22 miles of roadways. Like the community itself, the system is rural. Most of the roads are paved and in good condition. A majority are owned and maintained by the County. • Three traffic arterials converge in the tribe’s cultural center
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