Summary of Previous Studies and Plans
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Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Summary This memorandum summarizes the findings of prior transportation studies that are relevant to the West Seattle and Ballard LRT Extension (WSBLE) Project, including those prepared by Sound Transit, the city of Seattle, King County, and Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). This memorandum primarily identifies findings related to transportation conditions within the study area, past study recommendations and how they were incorporated into the representative project, and policy directives of relevance in local and regional planning documents. Page i | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Purpose of report ................................................................................................ 1 2 CITY AND REGIONAL PLANS AND STUDIES ...................................................................... 3 2.1 Policies and legislative actions ............................................................................ 4 2.1.1 State of Washington Growth Management Act ........................................ 4 2.1.2 Regional Growth Strategy ....................................................................... 4 2.2 Regional plans and studies ................................................................................. 4 2.2.1 Sound Transit Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (2014) ........................ 4 2.2.2 ST3 System Plan (2016) ......................................................................... 4 2.2.3 Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation 2040 (2014) .................... 5 2.2.4 Regional Transportation Improvement Program (Fiscal Year 2017 to 2020) ....................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Local and County plans and studies ..................................................................10 2.3.1 City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan (2017) ............................................10 2.3.2 City of Seattle Transit Master Plan (2016) ..............................................11 2.3.3 King County Metro Strategic Plan for Public Transportation (2015) ........13 2.3.4 King County MetroConnects Plan (2017)................................................13 2.4 Related corridor transportation plans .................................................................13 2.4.1 Seattle Monorail Project (1997 to 2005) .................................................13 2.4.2 Ballard to Downtown Seattle Transit Expansion Study (2014) ................14 2.4.3 South King County High Capacity Transit Corridor Study (2014) ............14 3 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 15 4 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 16 Figures Figure 1-1 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions ........................................................... 2 Figure 2-1 ST3 Regional Rail Access Plan ........................................................................... 6 Figure 2-2 ST3 System Plan ................................................................................................ 7 Figure 2-3 City of Seattle Transit Master Plan High-Capacity Transit Vision .......................12 Tables Table 2-1 Summary of previous studies .............................................................................. 3 Page ii | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Table 2-2 Programmed transportation improvement projects, FY 2017 to 2020 .................. 9 Appendices Appendix A Index of Previous Studies Page iii | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Acronyms and Abbreviations BNSF Burlington Northern Santa Fe DPD Department of Planning and Development DSTT Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel EIS Environmental Impact Statement ETC Elevated Transportation Company FY Fiscal Year HALA Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda HCT High Capacity Transit M/IC Manufacturing and Industrial Center MTS Metropolitan Transportation System RTLP Regional Transit Long-Range Plan PSRC Puget Sound Regional Council SIG Seattle International Gateway SODO South of Downtown Neighborhood SMART Sustainable, Multimodal, Accessible, Reliable, and Technology Corridors ST2 Sound Transit 2 System Plan ST3 Sound Transit 3 System Plan TOD Transit-Oriented Development TIP Transportation Improvement Program TMP City of Seattle Transit Master Plan WSBLE West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Page iv | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview Sound Transit is advancing the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions (WSBLE) Project through the Alternatives Development Phase. During Alternatives Development, Sound Transit will assess the representative project included in the Sound Transit 3 Plan (ST3) and further refine the specific route, station locations and other project elements based on additional public engagement and technical analysis. The representative project itself is the result of extensive, years-long planning and public involvement work, including high-capacity transit studies, the process to update the agency’s long-range plan, and the work that developed the ST3 Plan approved by voters in 2016. Sound Transit will engage the public and agencies in an intensive external engagement process that will lead to the Sound Transit Board identifying a Preferred Alternative, as well as other alternatives to evaluate in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The WSBLE Project would provide fast, reliable light rail connections to dense residential and job centers throughout the region and add a new downtown Seattle light rail tunnel to provide efficient operating capacity for the entire regional system. The extension to West Seattle would operate on a 4.7-mile elevated guideway from downtown Seattle to West Seattle’s Alaska Junction neighborhood and include a new rail-only fixed span bridge across the Duwamish River. The West Seattle extension would serve one at-grade station in the stadium area and four elevated stations in the SODO, Delridge, Avalon and Alaska Junction areas. The Ballard extension would operate 7.1 miles from downtown Seattle to Ballard’s Market Street area and include a new 3.3-mile rail-only tunnel from the International District/Chinatown to South Lake Union and Seattle Center/Uptown. The representative project includes an elevated guideway along 15th Avenue West and Elliott Avenue West and a rail-only movable bridge over Salmon Bay. The Ballard extension would serve three elevated stations in Ballard, Interbay and near Smith Cove, and six tunnel stations at Seattle Center, South Lake Union, Denny, Westlake, midtown and International District/Chinatown areas. A map of both extensions is shown on Figure 1-1 (West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions). 1.2 Purpose of report The primary objective of this report is to identify aspects of prior work that are of interest to the WSBLE Project, including findings related to transportation conditions within the study area, past study recommendations and how they were incorporated into the representative project, and policy directives of relevance in local and regional planning documents. Page 1 | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Figure 1-1 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions Page 2 | AE 0036-17 | Summary of Previous Studies and Plans February 2018 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions 2 CITY AND REGIONAL PLANS AND STUDIES Several transportation plans and studies since the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with the Forward Thrust Plan, have included components of the WSBLE Project. Major investments in the regional transit system did not take place until the mid-1990s with the passage of Sound Move, and later the Sound Transit 2 (ST2) Plan of 2008. Sound Move, adopted by the voters of the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit District (Sound Transit) in 1996, identified West Seattle, Fauntleroy, Burien, and Renton as candidates for regional express bus service. Sound Transit’s updated Regional Transit Long-Range Plan (2005) (RTLP) outlined the goals and objectives for HCT. Since its original adoption, the RTLP has included an HCT linkage between Ballard and Downtown Seattle, and the plan has also recommended the West Seattle-to- Downtown Seattle route for express bus service along with the monorail that was proposed by the Elevated Transportation Company (or Seattle Monorail Project) at that time. The ST2 Plan, adopted by the voters in 2008, provided additional funding and expanded the original Sound Move transportation package. The plan designated the downtown Seattle-West Seattle-Burien and Burien-Renton corridors as candidates for specific HCT studies. The ST2 Plan served as the fiscally-constrained plan specifying capital projects and the investment strategy to further implementation