Market Connections Committee Meeting Agenda Date: Monday, May 14th, 2018 Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Location: Classroom (Economy Building) Committee Members: Rico Quirindongo (Chair), Colleen Bowman (Vice-Chair), Jim Savitt, Gloria Skouge, David Ghoddousi, Devin McComb, and Mark Brady 4:00pm I. Administrative: Chair A. Approval of Agenda B. Approval of the Market Connections Committee April 9th, 2018 Meeting Minutes 4:05pm II. Announcements and/or Community Comments 4:10pm III. Key Issues and Discussion Items A. Washington State Convention Center Addition Update Jeff Blosser B. Construction Impact Updates Mary Bacarella 5:40pm IV. Action Items and Reports 5:45pm V. Items for the Consent Agenda Chair 5:50pm VI. Public Comment 5:55pm VII. Concerns of Committee Members 6:00pm VIII. Adjournment Chair Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority (PDA) · [email protected] · pikeplacemarket.org P: 206.682.7453 · F: 206.625.0646 · 85 Pike Street, Room 500 · Seattle, WA 98101 Market Connections Committee z Meeting Minutes Monday, April 9th, 2018 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Classroom Committee Members Present: Rico Quirindongo, Gloria Skouge, Mark Brady, David Ghoddousi, Devin McComb Other Council Members Present: Staff/ Consultants Present: Mary Bacarella, Karin Moughamer, John Turnbull Others Present: Howard Aller, Bob Messina, Chris Scott, Meghan Shepard, Gary Johnson, Wendy Paul The meeting was called to order at 4:01 pm by Rico Quirindongo, Chair. I. Administration A. Approval of the Agenda The agenda was approved by acclamation. B. Approval of the Market Connections Committee March 12th, 2018 Minutes The March 12th, 2018 meeting minutes were approved by acclamation. II. Announcements and Community Comments None III. Reports & Discussion Items A. One Center City Presentation Meghan Shepard, strategic adviser with SDOT introduced herself and Gary Johnson, Office of Planning and Community Development. Meghan began by introducing the One Center City project which has spent two years looking at ways to keep people and goods to and through downtown during the time of maximum constraint. She continued by defining Center City, which is the ten neighborhoods that makes up downtown and includes Uptown, South Lake Union, Capitol Hill, Belltown, Denny Triangle, Pike/Pine, Commercial Core, First Hill, Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District. Approximately 250,000 people commute to or through Center City each day and that number is going to rise over the next 20 years. Center City households will increase by 60% and increase jobs by 23% by 2035 but the city is feeling that impacts of that growth right now. In addition there are a lot of projects underway, both private and public, to support that growth, with the period of maximum constraint from 2019- 2021. A timeline of the major projects is included in the packet. The Convention Center construction will impact the city streets due to the closure of the tunnel to buses. Roughly 9-10 bus routes with 15,000 people that wait for their bus in the tunnel will move to 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority (PDA) · [email protected] · pikeplacemarket.org P: 206.682.7453 · F: 206.625.0646 · 85 Pike Street, Room 500 · Seattle, WA 98101 Meghan continued by noting that in 2018 there are 263 construction projects planned for downtown with 96 projects (37%) are by public agencies. SDOT is trying to step up their coordination and awareness of those projects. The people that are coming to work downtown are walking, biking, and taking transit. The percentage of people who drive alone is down from 35% in 2010 to 25% in 2017 with 48% taking transit, 10% participated in ride share, 8% walked, and 3% biked. Meghan noted there are some mobility challenges in downtown with construction impacts, and increase in number of buses. If nothing is done it will take people longer to get to work in cars and on buses. It will cost transit a lot more money to operate in those constrained situations. The typical speed for a bus could be the same as walking during rush hour. SDOT has been working with the Office of Planning and Community Development, King County Metro, Sound Transit and the Downtown Seattle Association. There has also been an advisory group of 35 people who provide input and guidance in exploring different alternatives to move people and goods through downtown. During those meetings SDOT heard making streets, sidewalks and bicycle facilities safer for people is a top priority as well as designing for people first. People also wanted to make the user experience at transportation hubs safe, easy to use and comfortable as well as SDOT to consider impacts on movement and delivery of urban goods. Meghan Shepard reviewed the list of recommended projects, which is shown on a map handed out. The projects taken together represent a $30M investment by City of Seattle, King County Metro, and Sound Transit and the goal is to have them ready to go by 2019 when the transit tunnel is closed to buses. The projects will be implemented in a sequence to improve safety for pedestrians, add safe bicycling options, provide more reliability and faster speed for people on transit, reduce transit operating costs, improve the quality of where people need to transfer, and increase people’s mobility options. Included in the plan is a signature transit project to create a new north bound transit pathway on 5th and 6th Avenues. Buses go against the flow of traffic on 5th Avenue to Marion Street before continuing on 6th Avenue. Gary Johnson added that along Third Avenue people will be able to pre-pay and tap ORCA cards for all bus routes which will speed up bus operations on 3rd Avenue and increase capacity. Meghan noted there will be signal improvements at 2nd and 4th Avenues, adding turn signals to clear cars and allow buses to move more freely along those streets. Also included in the near- term projects are improvements to the Montlake Triangle transit area. Meghan continued by sharing the three bicycle projects that are included in the One Center City plan. One is to complete the protected bike lanes along Pike and Pine (2017-2021). Another is a north-south protected bike lane on 4th Avenue which will take place in 2021. Gary added that when the Northgate light rail station opens that will reduce the number of buses that use 4th Avenue. The third is to connect the protected bike lanes along 2nd Avenue to Dearborn, which is a missing hole in the network. There are a number of potential transit service revisions and the process is being run by King County Metro and Sound Transit. They are looking at routes that come from the eastside to identify ways to provide a safe, fast trip even if they ask them to connect to light rail at Husky stadium. Gary Johnson added those transit changes have to be approved by King County Council and Sound Transit’s Board which is why they cannot say with certainty how this will be restructured. Through One Center City they are looking at ways to enhance public spaces, including adding pedestrian lighting to Market to MOHAI, activation of Pine Street Plaza and additional spaces like that at McGraw Square and Westlake, improvements at International District/Chinatown Station, better curb ramps at a rate of 50 per year that are fully ADA accessible, leading pedestrian intervals, and no right on red. Gary Johnson highlighted the work on Third Avenue. The first is a find-it-fix-it effort that DSA is leading to improve the environment and the other is a long term planning process to bring a holistic look at Third Avenue around quality of public realm and retail. He’s optimistic this will be plan that people can get behind and make these changes. Meghan Shepard continued by outlining the management strategies to help the users of this system. First, to help more commuters gain access to ORCA or ORCA Lift. Also, build on partnerships with Commute Seattle to expand their reach. They will also be looking at shared mobility hubs and new mobility strategies, better wayfinding for people looking for parking, and a partnership with UW Urban Freight Lab to pilot creative freight and delivery solutions. One Center City project implementation began in 2017 but will ramp up beginning in 2019. Gary Johnson added that the beginning of the Convention Center expansion will depend on when they get their permits, but it could be as early as late spring 2019, but hoping its closer to September 2019. Meghan reviewed what’s next which includes agency approvals, specific project design and implementation, on-going outreach and communications, and a 20-year vision for urban design, public spaces, and mobility. The 20-year vision and framework includes a unified and integrated plan for how we move through, connect to, and experience Center City. It will also include many communities, perspectives, and partners and a framework for future public realm and mobility investments. Gary Johnson added the near-term projects will cost roughly $30M; $10M from each King County Metro, Sound Transit, and City of Seattle. Sound Transit’s board will review that proposal on April 26th while the City and Metro already have that commitment in place. Rico Quirindongo asked if Sound Transit’s Board will approve the funding. Gary responded he believes it will be approved. David Ghoddousi asked what is happening with the Battery Street Tunnel. Gary Johnson responded the City Council decided to fill the tunnel with viaduct demolition debris. The tunnel was built in 1950’s and is not up to code so to preserve it for other uses would cost upwards of $100M and the Council was unwilling to be responsible for that amount of funding.