2016 Regional Volume 13/March 2017 Transportation Planning Journeys Highlights

2016 Notable Projects in the Thurston Region Updated Regional Transportation Willamette Drive and 31st Avenue NE Roundabout (Completed construction of a Plan Keeps Us Moving roundabout with sidewalks and landscaping to improve traffic During the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) update circulation and intersection safety) process, nearly 1,500 people responded to Thurston City of Lacey Regional Planning Council’s (TRPC) Transportation 22nd Avenue Sidewalk Investment Survey. About two-thirds supported raising (Completed the 22nd Avenue transportation taxes and fees for their important priorities. sidewalk, making it easier for people to walk to parks, schools, Yet folks didn’t necessarily agree on the priorities: Widen and bus stops) City of Olympia roads – Don’t Widen Roads … More bicycle lanes – No bicycle lanes … More Transit – Less Transit … Rail Now – Tyee Drive Extention/Israel Road Improvement (Began construction Rail Later – Rail Never. of a new segment of Tyee Drive and roundabout at Israel Road) City of What Moves You—2040 serves as a strategic blueprint Tumwater for the Thurston Region’s transportation system. TRPC estimates that by the end of the 25-year planning horizon, the region will grow from Old Hwy 99 Pavement Rehabilitation (Completed about 270,000 to 400,000 residents. The share of people over 65 will likely reach 20 more than six miles of asphalt percent. Millennials will be mid-career and probably raising families. Peoples’ needs will resurfacing, from Lewis County to change over time — as will choices. Tenino, including asphalt removal, rumble strips, lane arrowing at By mid-century, will autonomous vehicles whisk us to our destinations with little human intersections, and roadway paving) Thurston County interaction? Will we have a sustainable source of funding to maintain the system we have? Where our residents live and work, and how they travel, will influence how the Bus Stop Enhancements for Improved Accessibility and transportation system functions. Safety (Increased pedestrian safety and allowed ADA bus The Thurston Region boasts a strong history of collaboration. While the RTP is a federal- ramp deployment to meet federal and state-required document, regional policymakers and the public went beyond standards at 49 bus stops in requirements to envision and plan for a dynamic future. We will all need to continue Thurston County, Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Yelm; installed working together to keep the region moving. interior solar lighting at 10 more In 10 years, how do people feel their transportation needs will change? shelters) Intercity Transit Bike Corridor Pilot Program 40% 51% 43% 30% 40% (Completed the Bike Corridor Pilot Will do more Will do less Will do the same Will do the same Will NOT Project on low-stress streets, from walking, bicycling, driving. amount of walking. amount of driving, carpool/vanpool, Lions Park to Sylvester Park) City of teleworking, riding bus riding, telework, the train. carpooling/ ride the train. Olympia vanpooling.

Tumwater Historical Park Trail Why the change? • Retirement • Congestion (Replaced existing crushed rock and Respondents offered • Changing physical ability • Growth brick paver trail with a 10-foot-wide a number of different • Children entering school • Employment changes paved, ADA-accessible shared-use reasons. • Children old enough to • Location changes path) City of Tumwater drive or leaving home • Environmental issues Continued on Page 4 • More future • Increasing costs transportation options & changing technology

Source: Transportation Investment Survey, TRPC 2014. Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 1 2016 Retrospective — A Year of Changes

Changes were afoot in 2016 for TRPC’s transportation program. The year started off with an agency restructure, followed shortly by a major shuffle of staff responsibilities. The Transportation Policy Board and Technical Advisory Committee welcomed new members, and we unveiled a new transportation model and Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) by mid-summer. Executive Director Lon Wyrick retired at the end of July, after 16 years at the helm of TRPC.

We kept the ship on a steady course, and in the latter part of 2016 we:

• Updated our agency Public Participation Plan and Council Bylaws.

• Programmed more than $9 million in federal funding for transportation projects.

• Presented the RTP’s public-outreach strategy at the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations’ annual conference, in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Negotiated federal planning funding with fellow metropolitan planning organizations and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

• Became co-chair of the South Sound Military and Community Partnership’s Transportation Work Group. Photo: Pictured left to right, new TRPC Executive Director Marc Daily, I could not be more proud of Team TRPC! Interim Executive Director R. Veena Tabbutt, and former Executive Director Lon Wyrick. Marc Daily joins us in 2017 as the new executive director. He brings established local relationships, as well as a strong background in leadership, fiscal, and project management, collaboration, facilitation, and planning. We are excited for Marc’s leadership, and we look forward to a productive and interesting 2017. Full steam ahead!

- - R. Veena Tabbutt, Interim Executive Director Legislative Priorities 6 • Fix Interstate-5 (I-5). Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has no plan for I-5 through Thurston County. Provide $5 million to WSDOT/TRPC to create plan.

• Maintain and grow public transportation services. Increase local funding options, provide state funding for interregional services, and invest $5 million to address Intercity Transit infrastructure needs.

• Thanks for supporting I-5 improvements. Need to continue funding critical interchanges and bridges and add high-occupancy vehicle capacity.

• Preserve and maintain the multimodal system and complete current projects — including state highways, local roads, bridges, and bike and pedestrian facilities.

• Maintain and increase state transportation planning funds and Regional & Rural mobility funds.

• Increase funding for fish passage culvert conversions.

Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 2 County Recieves $2 Million for Innovative Road Surface Safety Projects

The County has deployed low-cost counter measures, such as installing signs, High Friction Surface pavement markings, and rumble strips, to keep cars on the road. The County is Treatment (HFST) is a running out of places to install these lower-cost measures, however, so it will soon layer of aggregates as use a $2 million grant to improve roadway friction. a topping on a polymer resin binder. Expected In 2013, the County began examining locations that may benefit from what’s crash reductions after known as High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST), a thin layer of coarse aggregates HFST installation range that provides long-lasting skid resistance and protection from wear and polishing. from 32 percent for all In 2014, the County formed a partnership with the Washington State Department crashes to 65 percent of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for wet-road crashes in to conduct an HFST demonstration and peer exchange. FHWA identified this rural areas, according collaborative effort as noteworthy and published a case study. to the Federal Highway Administration. Last summer, WSDOT issued a call for “Innovative Safety Program” projects and made $25 million available to local agencies. Thurston County considered HFST for a variety of reasons, including:

• Limited impact (e.g., easier permitting thus reducing environmental review time). • Proven Safety Counter Measure • Provides benefits to pavement surface (similar in nature to chip seals). • Prior experience with HFST installation.

WSDOT awarded Thurston County $2 million for 29 HFST installation locations, with construction scheduled to begin fall 2017.

Photo: HFST at Thurston County Horizontal Curve Demonstration Site. Source: Scott Davis, Thurston County. TRPC Model Helping Lewis County

TRPC began expanding its travel-demand model to all of Lewis County last year, and will use the tool to study improved access to industrial areas in and around Centralia.

Lewis County contracted with TRPC to support the North Lewis County Industrial Access (NLCIA) study, which began last summer and concludes in 2017. Using TRPC’s Greater Thurston-Lewis Region (GTLR) model, Lewis County will evaluate ways to better link industrial sites with I-5. Such sites include TransAlta Corp.’s Centralia Coal Plant, which is slated to be decommissioned and eventually redeveloped as an industrial park.

Continued on page 5

Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ 360-956-7575 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 3 Nearly $21 Million for Transportation Projects Throughout Thurston County

Thanks to local, state, and federal collaboration, partnerships, and funding, the Thurston Region will see 28 projects move forward during the next three years.

These priority projects will make the transportation system safer for all users, improve the efficiency of the transportation network, and repair or replace aging infrastructure. The $21 million in investments will:

• Construct the Deschutes Valley Trail, from Tumwater Historical Park to Falls Park. • Construct two roundabouts. • Reconstruct Desoto Street in Tumwater. • Add sidewalks, bike lanes, and street lighting on Mullen Road, between Carpenter Road and Lacey City Limits. • Create corridor and area transportation studies for Bucoda, Tenino, Grand Mound, Rochester, and Yelm, preparing these areas for future projects. • Install pedestrian-activated flashing beacons in Olympia, Tumwater, Rainier, and Tenino. • Continue Safe Routes to School programs. • Support countywide road maintenance projects. • Update and reprint the Thurston County Bicycle Map.

Projects 2017-2019 Regional Transportation ! Site specific !2 Lacey Grant Program Awards !1 !4 ! Wider area (not location specific) Olympia !3 ID Project Community 1 Pedestrian Crossing Flashing Beacon Installation Olympia !9 2 Intercity Transit's "Walk N Roll" Intercity Transit ! !7 ! 3 Bus Stop Enhancements for Safety & Accessibility Intercity Transit 5!6 !7 8 4 Pacific Ave and Yelm Hwy Midblock Crosswalks Study Thurston County 5 Desoto Street Stabilization and Rehabilitation Tumwater Tumwater !11 6 Deschutes Valley Trail: Historical to Falls Park Tumwater !10 !4 7 School Speed Limit Zone Flashing Beacon Project Olympia School District 8 Boulevard Road and Morse-Merryman Road Roundabout Olympia 9 College and 22nd Ave Roundabout Construction Lacey !10 10 Capitol Blvd Pedestrian Crossing Improvements Tumwater 11 Mullen Road - Lacey City Limits to Carpenter Road Thurston County 12 Yelm Avenue / 1st Street Corridor Study Yelm 13 Fort Stevens Elementary Pedestrian Improvements Yelm 14 Tipsoo Loop Chipseal Project Rainier 15 Binghampton Streetscape Phase 1 Crosswalk Project Rainier 16 Main Street Rochester Strategy Thurston County 17 Grand Mound Transportation Study Thurston County Ye l m !12 !13 18 Sussex Crossing Improvements Tenino 19 Yelm-Tenino Trail Wayfinding Signage Tenino 20 Yelm-Tenino Trail Extension Feasibility Study Bucoda and Tenino 21 Countywide Restoration & Resurfacing Project 2018 Thurston County 22 Countywide Restoration & Resurfacing Project 2019 Thurston County 23 Thurston County Bicycle Map, 6th Edition TRPC 24 Regional Transportation Data Management Program TRPC 25 Bike Helmets for Thurston County Students Safe Kids Thurston County !14 !15 Rainer

Tenino !18 !19 !21

Rochester !22 !16 Grand Mound 23 17 ! ! !20 Bucoda !24 !25

Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ 360-956-7575 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 4 A Mile a Minute and Heavy Workload for a Busy TPB

The workhorse Transportation Policy Board (TPB) tackled a heavy agenda in 2016 and made plans for an equally busy 2017.

Led by Chair Andy Ryder (City of Lacey) and Vice Chair Graeme Sackrison (Citizen Representative), the committee dug into the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) update and studied the new transportation model, forecasts, public ideas and expectations, performance measures, and financing challenges. The committee completed its work in May and recommended that the Thurston Regional Planning Council adopt the final draft plan (See front-page TPB Meeting, March 2016 story).

With little pause to celebrate the RTP adoption, TPB jumped right into a work program priority — to better understand how we plan for transit and rail. Policy Board members heard from Intercity Transit about fixed-route, Dial-a-Lift, ridesharing, and travel training. They learned more about the Rural & Tribal Transportation program (RT). In 2017, they plan to move to rail presentations and discussions.

Fall 2016 brought to the TPB table the 2017-2019 Federal Funding – Call for Projects. In addition to providing input on the process, board members dealt with the “paperwork” requirements, such as recommending adoption of the 2017-2020 Regional Transportation Improvement Program and various amendments.

Along the way, guest speakers reported on bike and pedestrian strategies, tools for improving access to trails, school Walk ‘N’ Roll and bus programs, and road projects such as the Yelm Loop. The Policy Board also helped develop the 2017 Legislative Priorities (See story, Pg. 2) and served as a focus group for a state Commute Trip Reduction Board strategy proposal.

TRPC Model Helping Lewis County Continued from page 3

TRPC’s travel-demand model — which also includes parts of Mason, Grays Harbor and Pierce counties — incorporates land use, population, and employment forecasts to project vehicle routes and volumes through 2040. Such information will help engineers, planners and policymakers evaluate whether roads and highway interchanges need to be improved or added to enhance capacity, multimodal amenities, and access to Lewis County’s northern industrial sites.

TRPC will run through its model several project scenarios, including land use or roadway options, and will provide each scenario’s base year and forecast results to the NLCIA project team for further performance evaluation. TRPC also will link volume maps, screenline summaries and tables that note vehicle miles traveled and vehicle hours traveled to compare current year, baseline 2040, and project scenario options.

Lewis County will contract with TRPC to maintain the model going forward, so it may be used for other projects. For more information about the model, visit trpc.org.

Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 5 Continued from Page 1 Regional Partnership - Videos Old Highway 99 and McDuff Road Slide Repair (Constructed 200-foot-long walls on Old Promote Transportation Services Highway 99 and McDuff Road, repaired pavement, and installed guardrail) Thurston County to Ease I-5 Congestion Fairview Pathway (Completed the Fairview Pathway, making it easier for people to walk and Traffic on I-5 between Tumwater and Lakewood is a frustrating experience to bike from the Indian Creek everyone who travels the largest corridor on the West Coast. Congestion and Neighborhood to the Olympia delays cost people, businesses, and communities time and money. Woodland Trail) City of Olympia

Capitol Boulevard/Old Highway 99 Project (Continued The JBLM/I-5 Congestion Relief Action Plan included strategies to alleviate design, gopher mitigation, and ROW acquisition, from Israel congestion on I-5’s South Sound segment by encouraging JBLM service members, Road to 73rd Avenue; planned defense employees, and others who travel to the base to use transit, carpool or construction in 2017/2018) City vanpool, and other employer-based programs such as telework and flex schedules. of Tumwater

Capitol Boulevard Corridor Plan (Began Interchange Since 2012, JBLM has developed and formalized on-base programs to help Justification Report for I-5/Trosper Road interchange related to active-duty personnel, employees, dependents, and contractors travel easily and Trosper Rd./Capitol Boulevard cheaply to and from base without a car. The Go Lewis McChord program offers intersection improvement efforts) three services: Go Transit, Go Bike, and Go Vanpool. City of Tumwater

US 101/West Olympia Access Project (Received approval of In 2016, TRPC partnered with JBLM, Pierce County, Pierce Transit, and Intercity Interchange Justification Report and SEPA for new freeway access Transit to develop three short animated videos to market the Go Lewis McChord ramps at Kaiser Road and Yauger services. TRPC contracted with Creative Media Alliance from Seattle to direct and Way in West Olympia) City of produce the videos. All the project stakeholders contributed valuable input to the Olympia script, the scenery, the vehicles, and military uniforms and hairstyles. Walk ‘N’ Roll Program (Encouraged more than 4,200 students, parents, teachers, and The videos highlight the benefits of the program’s travel options. They also convey elected officials in 53 events in North Thurston, Olympia, in a positive and upbeat manner what makes JBLM and the South Sound special. and Tumwater school districts; The partners will release videos one at a time during the next three months, on additionally, 60 students GoLewisMcChord.com, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media. To learn graduated from “Earn a Bike” more about JBLM’s transportation services, visit www.GoLewisMcChord.com. classes, and 80 bikes were completely overhauled at the program’s bike shop) Intercity Transit

E Street Extension Feasibility Study (Developed preferred alignment and intersection control treatments) City of Tumwater

Tumwater Boulevard - I-5 Southbound Ramp Improvement Project (Began construction of a project that will provide a dedicated lane for southbound I-5 onramp at Tumwater Boulevard) City of Tumwater

Thurston Regional Planning Council ~ 2424 Heritage Ct. SW #A, Olympia, WA 98502 ~ www.trpc.org ~ Page 6