Below are the minutes for the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee meeting, held on Friday, May 16, 2003, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Conference Room East (6), at the Clark County Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street - Floor 4, Vancouver, Washington. The agenda for this meeting is also available.
I. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
The meeting of the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee was called to order on Friday, May 16, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. in the Conference Room (6 Floor) at Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street 4th Floor Vancouver, Washington. Dean Lookingbill, RTC Transportation Director, served as Chair for the meeting. Those in attendance follow:
Sam Adams City of Battle Ground Mike Clark WSDOT John Cullerton Metro Lynda David RTC John Fratt Port of Vancouver Mark Harrington RTC Bob Hart RTC Dean Lookingbill RTC Mike Mabry Clark County Bill Pierce WSDOT Thomas Picco ODOT Ed Pickering C-TRAN Matt Ransom City of Vancouver Sandi Roberts RTC Dale Robins RTC Wade Strange SW Clean Air Agency Dean Lookingbill asked for any changes or corrections to the April 18, 2003 meeting minutes.
MIKE CLARK, WSDOT, MOVED FOR APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 18, 2003 MINUTES AND JOHN CULLERTON, METRO, SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
II. 2002 Congestion Management Report, Action
Dale Robins distributed the latest version of the Congestion Management Report and asked for input to guide the 2003 workscope. Dale said that to meet the requirements of the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) the RTC Board of Directors adopted the Congestion Management System (CMS) for the Clark County region in May of 1995. The CMS program has been continued since then and now provides valuable information on the performance of the transportation system. The objective of the CMS is to provide a continuing analysis of transportation system congestion, help to protect the region’s transportation investments and help to guide development of the future transportation system. The CMS for the Clark County region supports the long-term transportation goals and objectives defined in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and assists in identifying needed transportation improvements. The CMS, through performance monitoring, also helps to identify system bottlenecks and potential solutions. The CMS has been integrated into and supports other federal, state, regional, and local requirements by providing a comprehensive view of transportation system performance.
Dale highlighted several of the maps and tables in the draft Congestion Management Report. Dale asked that RTAC members review all of the Report’s content and e-mail him with any edits. John Cullerton, Metro, said the report is very useful and the level of detail is quite impressive. Dale noted that this is the 4th edition of the Report that updates transportation data to 2002 and the Report will be updated each year.
RTAC members reviewed the proposed work scope for 2003. Dean Lookingbill explained that the budget has been held constant. Dean noted that over the years we have added more transit data, area of concerns, spot improvements, and have expanded the number of corridors that are monitored. Overall, the 2003 Congestion Management Monitoring project will continue baseline data collection activities, improve the coordination and quality of the data collection process, identify new data elements, complete the process to automate the updating of the Congestion Management Monitoring data, and assess transportation system impacts. The data elements include the collection of traffic counts, transit ridership, corridor travel time, travel speed, auto occupancy, truck percentage information, and other transportation system data.
MATT RANSOM, CITY OF VANCOUVER, MADE THE MOTION TO RECOMMEND TO THE RTC BOARD APPROVAL OF THE 2002 CONGESTION MANAGEMENT REPORT AND TO SUPPORT THE STUDY FOR 2003/04. SAM ADAMS, CITY OF BATTLE GROUND, SECONDED THE MOTION AND IT WAS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
III. Comprehensive Growth Management Plan Update: RTPO Certification Process, Discussion
Lynda David, RTC, presented the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan Update: RTPO Certification Process. Lynda pointed out that at the April 2003 RTAC meeting, roles and requirements relating to Level of Service standards were discussed. RTC is the Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO) for the Clark County region and, as such, has responsibility for the regional transportation planning process. One of the duties of RTC is to certify the transportation elements of local Comprehensive Plans and any update to the Plans. Clark County and local jurisdictions will need to submit updated Comprehensive Growth Management Plans for certification by RTC. The certification process will include review of the transportation elements of the Plan to ensure that Plans comply with the requirements of the Growth Management Act as well as the requirements outlined in the “LOS Bill” passed by the Washington State Legislature in 1998.
Lynda reviewed the draft version of the Regional Consistency and Certification Process and asked RTAC members to consider the draft Consistency and Certification Report Form that was distributed. Lynda reviewed:
- Guidelines and Principles
- Conformity with the Growth Management Act
- Washington Administrative Code Recommendations
- Consistency with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan
- County-Wide Planning Polices
- Process for Certification
- Submission of Local Plans for Consistency Review
The following eight factors are significant to development of the MTP. Consistency with these factors will meet the conformity requirement under GMA.
- Land use forecast
- Regional Travel Forecast Model network and transit service assumptions
- Level of service standards
- Goals and policies
- Projects, programs, and services
- Financial plan and regional transportation funding strategy
- Intergovernmental coordination efforts
- Transportation demand management strategies.
Lynda noted that the draft Process document and draft form were distributed to the GMA TAC on May 15th for information. Lynda said the GMA TAC had concerns about LOS standards for the transportation system. GMA TAC members discussed timeline and thought the best time for RTC to review the draft transportation elements would be at the same time as the state Office of Community Development (OCD) review of draft plans. The RTC Board would be asked to certify the transportation elements after the Comprehensive Plan updates are adopted. Dean said that the Certification Process will be presented to the RTC Board. Dean said that LOS will need to be reviewed at a future meeting to make sure that LOS is consistent with plans.
IV. 2004-2006 MTIP Process/Schedule, Discussion
Dale said the process for development of the 2004-2006 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) has begun. The goal is to build upon the MTIP process utilized in previous years and adopt a three-year MTIP that helps the region meet obligation levels and leverage competitive dollars. The MTIP lists all regionally significant transportation projects. The MTIP includes a priority list of projects to be carried out in each of the next three years and has a financial plan that demonstrates how it can be implemented. Dale reviewed the schedule. The RTAC subcommittee met in April and a letter was sent to all RTAC members notifying them that RTC will be accepting project applications for MTIP consideration. Dale said that funding levels have changed since the letter went out. CMAQ funding is reduced because Yakima is now eligible to get some of the CMAQ dollars thus reducing the funding to other existing CMAQ recipients. Dale reviewed the likely funding levels; $4.8 million for STP-TMA, $1.8 million CMAQ and $9.0 million of Section 5307 for public transit.
Dale reviewed project submission/screening and said agencies will need to complete and submit an RTC Federal Project Summary application for each project. This form is available on the RTC website at www.rtc.wa.gov/programs/tip. Projects currently programmed in the MTIP do not need to be resubmitted unless the project scope, costs, or evaluation will change.
All project submitted for inclusion in the MTIP must be consistent with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and local use plans. In addition, road improvement projects must be on a facility with a federal classification of Minor Arterial or above. There is a limit of $3 million in regional federal funds per project. Dale reviewed the evaluation/ranking, project selection/programming and reviewed the MTIP Development schedule.
Dale said the projects are due to RTC by June 27th and projects will be selected on August 5, 2003. The full MTIP will be adopted at the October 7, 2003 RTC Board meeting. Please contact Dale Robins if you have any questions.
V. New WSDOT Projects: I-5 Widening from Salmon Creek to I-205 and the SR-500/112th Avenue Interchange
The Washington State Legislature just passed a 10-year, $4.2 billion transportation package that includes funding for several projects in the region. Mike Clark, WSDOT, presented an overview of two of the projects: 1) I-5 widening from Salmon Creek to I-205 and 2) the SR-500/112th Avenue interchange. WSDOT advertised for contractors’ bids on the first nickel tax project, to widen I-5 between Salmon Creek and I-205, on May 12th and the SR-500 project will be advertised in late May/early June. Mike displayed aerial photos for the road improvements and talked about the potential phases of the two projects.
VI. Other Business
A. RTAC Members
John Cullerton, Metro, said he had been talking to Phil Selinger from Tri-Met regarding modeling for Delta Park/Lombard and wants to work with C-TRAN and RTC to come up with reasonable assumptions for transit service in the I-5 Corridor.
B. RTC Staff
Lynda David, RTC, reported that WSDOT and FHWA staff met in Olympia on May 12th to consider the draft update to the federal Urban Area Boundary (UAB). The UAB update was discussed at the February RTAC meeting and was approved for submittal by the RTC Board of Directors in early March 2003. The Olympia meeting raised an issue for the Vancouver UAB. Within Washington State a decision was made to categorize urban areas based on Census Designated Places (CDPs) of greater than 5,000 in population rather than on presence of urban clusters. This definition makes Hockinson CDP an urban area. The decision that the region needs to make is whether to integrate Hockinson into the Vancouver UAB or to have it stand alone as an urban place. If Hockinson is brought into the Vancouver UAB then Brush Prairie CDP would also have to be a part of the UAB to have a contiguous urban area. Whatever the decision, any existing rural minor collectors in the Hockinson CDP would have to be re-classified to urban collector. Lynda said it may be in our best interest to have the Vancouver Urban Area Boundary (UAB) be as reflective as possible of the Growth Management Urban Growth Area (UGA) which excludes the Hockinson area. Lynda said that there were other areas within the state that were classified as urban by CDP definition but are not urban in character and they include Vashon Island in King County and Camano Island in Island County. RTAC members briefly discussed the issue and voiced a preference that Hockinson not be included as part of the Vancouver UAB.
Bob Hart, RTC reminded RTAC Members of the VAST Forum on June 10th at the Water Resource Center
Dean Lookingbill, RTC, said the piece of transportation legislation that puts 12 new ex-officio members on the RTC Board is now signed. The new ex-officio members are state legislators from the 15th, 17th, 18th and 49th Districts. Dean said that the budget bill and revenue bill would be signed next week
The meeting was adjourned at 10:52 a.m. The next meeting will be Friday, June 20, 2003.
For More Information Contact:
Regional Transportation Council
1300 Franklin Street, Floor 4
Vancouver, Washington 98660Tel: 360-397-6067
Fax: 360-397-6132
E-mail: info@rtc.wa.govServed by C-TRAN Route 3.
If you have special needs, please contact RTC.
       
|