BNSF Corridor Preservation Study FINAL REPORT May 2007 Prepared for: Puget Sound Regional Council 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500 Seattle, WA 98104 500 108th Avenue NE Suite 1200 Bellevue, WA 98004-5549 (425) 450-6200 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS STUDY SPONSOR Puget Sound Regional Council King Cushman, Regional Strategy Advisor BNSF CORRIDOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chairperson: Julia Patterson, King County Councilmember COMMITTEE MEMBERS ♦ LOCAL JURISDICTIONS ♦ CITY OF BELLEVUE CITY OF RENTON Councilmember Don Davidson Councilmember Marcie Palmer CITY OF KIRKLAND CITY OF SNOHOMISH Councilmember Tom Hodgson Councilmember Larry Countryman CITY OF REDMOND CITY OF WOODINVILLE Mayor Rosemarie Ives Mick Monken, Public Works Director KING COUNTY SNOHOMISH COUNTY Councilmember Julia Patterson (Committee Chair) Councilmember Dave Somers Rod Brandon, County Executive’s Office Marc Krandel, Parks Planning and County Executive’s Representative ♦ TRANSPORTATION INTERESTS ♦ BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY SOUND TRANSIT Jerome Johnson, Assist. VP, Network Dev. Councilmember Mary-Alyce Burleigh (City of Kirkland) PORT OF SEATTLE SPIRIT OF WASHINGTON DINNER TRAIN Geri Poor, Regional Transportation Manager, Eric Temple, President/Owner Economic Development Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) Chris Picard, Manager, Urban Planning Office ♦ BNSF CORRIDOR USERS/BENEFICIARIES ♦ BICYCLE ALLIANCE OF WASHINGTON DISCOVERY INSTITUTE Louise McGrody, Trails Program Bruce Agnew, Cascadia Project Director BOEING COMPANY EASTSIDE TRANSPORTATION CHOICES Shaunta Hyde, Manager, Local Government Relations, Councilmember Kathy Huckabay (City of Sammamish) Puget Sound PUGET SOUND ENERGY CASCADE BIKE CLUB Susan Hempstead, Local Govt & Community Relations Chuck Ayers, Executive Director WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY CASCADE LAND CONSERVANCY Dale King, Manager, Puget Sound Government & Chip Nevins, Senior King County Conservation Director Community Affairs Funding for this document was provided in part by PSRC’s member jurisdictions, grants from U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration and Washington State Department of Transportation. PSRC fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. BNSF Corridor Preservation Study i For Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) May 2007 CONSULTANT STUDY TEAM PRIME CONSULTANT HDR Engineering, Inc. under the direction of Wayne Short, P.E. Project Manager: Deborah Chase This study was performed for the Puget Sound Regional Council by the HDR consultant study team, which was made up of the following firms, each providing specific expertise: Technical Team Coordination, Rail Scenario Development, Cost and Traffic Impact Analysis, Jurisdiction and HDR Engineering Interested Party Assessment: Environmental Planning and Regulatory Compliance: The Resource Group Rail Operations & Planning, FRA Regulatory Compliance: Transit Safety Management Assessment of Future Economic and Community Impacts: Berk & Associates Advisory Committee Meeting Facilitation: Norton-Arnold & Company BNSF Corridor Preservation Study ii For Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) May 2007 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................ ES-1 CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 9 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................9 PROJECT DESCRIPTION..............................................................................................12 SCENARIOS ...................................................................................................................13 SEGMENTS ....................................................................................................................16 ADDITIONAL TOPICS DISCUSSED DURING THE STUDY..........................................18 CHAPTER 2 – DATA GATHERING.................................................................... 25 DATA COLLECTION.......................................................................................................25 CORRIDOR MAPS..........................................................................................................26 INTERVIEWS..................................................................................................................27 WSDOT STUDY INFORMATION....................................................................................31 OTHER KEY ISSUES .....................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 3 – ANALYSIS (TECHNICAL) .......................................................... 33 FACT SHEETS ...............................................................................................................34 RAIL USE CONFIGURATION.........................................................................................36 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT................................................................................38 ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT ............................................................................41 COSTS............................................................................................................................44 TRAFFIC IMPACTS ........................................................................................................45 RAIL AND TRAILS REPORTS........................................................................................48 CHAPTER 4 – COMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS ................................................. 49 MAY 12, 2006 (Woodinville City Hall) .............................................................................49 JULY 28, 2006 (Snohomish Public Library) ....................................................................50 SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 (Renton City Hall)......................................................................52 DECEMBER 1, 2006 (Bellevue City Hall) .......................................................................55 JANUARY 19, 2007 (Redmond Public Library)...............................................................59 CHAPTER 5 – RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................... 63 FINDINGS FROM BNSF CORRIDOR PRESERVATION STUDY ..................................63 BNSF Corridor Preservation Study iii For Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) May 2007 List of Tables Table 1 – Probable Time Frames for Prioritizing Scenarios for Further Study ............................. 7 Table 2 – Expected Economic Impacts to Each Potentially-Affected Party ................................ 34 Table 3 – Relative Order of Magnitude Costs (for construction only) ......................................... 36 List of Figures Figure 1 – Corridor Context Map .................................................................................................. 9 Figure 2 – Puget Sound Energy – Transmission Crossing ......................................................... 13 Figure 3 – Puget Sound Energy – Electric Distribution Crossing................................................ 14 Figure 4 – Puget Sound Energy – Gas Distribution Crossing .................................................... 15 Figure 5 – Sound Transit Planned BRT Improvements .............................................................. 16 List of Appendices Appendix A CORRIDOR MAPS............................................................................................ A-1 Appendix B JURISDICTIONAL INTERVIEWS SUMMARY .................................................. B-1 Appendix C FACT SHEETS.................................................................................................. C-1 Appendix D EXAMPLE CONFIGURATION FOR POTENTIAL RAIL USES REPORT ......... D-1 Appendix E ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REPORT .................................................. E-1 Appendix F ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS REPORT.......................................................F-1 Appendix G TRAFFIC IMPACTS ANALYSIS STUDY........................................................... G-1 Appendix H RAIL WITH TRAIL REFERENCE REPORTS.................................................... H-1 An Introduction to Rails With Trails How Long will it Take . Some Typical Timeframe Considerations for Rail-to-Trail Development Projects BNSF Corridor Preservation Study iv For Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) May 2007 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the fall of 2003, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company indicated its intent to divest roughly 42 miles of railroad corridor in east King and south Snohomish counties from its operational rail lines. The BNSF asked if there was public interest in maintaining/preserving this extensive corridor for transportation purposes. PSRC took on the question of “public interest” and conducted a series of discussions with the eight jurisdictions along the corridor plus the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Sound Transit and several of the regions’ environmental/bicycling interests. The resulting recommendation to preserve the corridor for future transportation uses was endorsed by PSRC’s Executive Board who unanimously agreed that this regional rail corridor should be preserved for future transportation uses and communicated this regional interest to the BNSF Railway Company in July 2004. The Executive Board also directed that the corridor be further studied to explore