Below are the minutes for the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee meeting, held on Friday, August 20, 2004, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in Conference Room East (6A), 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, August 20, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. in the Conference Room (6th Floor) at the Public Service Center, 1300 Franklin Street Vancouver, Washington. Dale Robins, Senior Transportation Planner, served as Chair for the meeting. Those in attendance follow:
Sam Adams City of Battle Ground Jim Carothers City of Camas Justin Clary City of Ridgefield Lynda David RTC Evan Dust Clark County John Fratt Port of Vancouver Mark Garrity WSDOT Michael Haggerty C-TRAN Mark Harrington RTC Bob Hart RTC John Hoefs C-TRAN Sharon Nasset Citizen Sandi Roberts RTC Dale Robins RTC Bill Wright Clark County Phil Wuest City of Vancouver Dale Robins, RTC, asked for any changes or corrections to the July 16, 2004, meeting minutes.
PHIL WUEST, CITY OF VANCOUVER, MOVED FOR APPROVAL OF THE JULY 16 2004 MINUTES AND SAM ADAMS, CITY OF BATTLE GROUND, SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
II. TIB Competitive Projects, Action
Dale Robins, RTC, said, the purpose of this memorandum is to outline a set of projects for submittal to the Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) for statewide competitive funding. The TIB urban programs this year include Arterial Improvement Program (AIP), Transportation Partnership Program (TPP), and Pedestrian Safety & Mobility (PSMP).
Dale noted that over the years, our region has worked cooperatively to coordinate efforts to develop successful statewide competitive grant applications. In order to continue the success of our region, a subcommittee of RTAC has been working to coordinate grant applications.
Dale reminded RTAC members that grant applications were due to RTC on Thursday, August 12, 2004. Draft grant applications are in the process of being reviewed and comments will soon be returned. The final grant applications will be due to RTC on Monday, August 30, 2004. Dale said the grants would be submitted as a region, with a regional cover letter of support.
Dale pointed out that projects could be submitted for both the AIP and TPP programs on the same application. TIB will evaluate the project for both programs and select the best projects for funding under each program. The regions covered by each program vary, with the AIP having a southwest region (Olympia south) and the TPP a west region (west of Cascade Mountain excluding Puget Sound).
Dale reviewed the AIP Program and said it is for improving the existing arterial street system to reduce congestion and increase traffic safety. Statewide program size is $20-25 million, of which $2.7-3.3 million is allocated to the Southwest region. The TPP Program is to improve the mobility of people and goods by supporting economic development. Statewide program size is $25-30 million, of which $5.6-6.75 million is allocated to the west region. The Pedestrian Safety & Mobility Program (PSMP) is for improving pedestrian safety and access along arterials. Statewide program size is $1 million, with $200,000 available in the West Region.
Dale reviewed the projects and noted that Battle Ground added a project on South Grace from Main Street to 199th Street for $1.7 million after RTAC packets were mailed out. Jim Carothers, City of Camas, noted a change in the Leadbetter Drive request; Camas will apply for $2.7 million in TIB funding instead of the $3.77 million noted in the RTAC memo. Justin Clary, City of Ridgefield, said that Ridgefield would apply for funding from the TIB Small City program for a traffic signal at SR-501 and 45th Street and from the TIB small city portion of the PSMP for a sidewalk extension on Division Street to Abrams Park.
BILL WRIGHT, CLARK COUNTY, MADE THE MOTION TO RECOMMEND ENDORSEMENT BY THE RTC BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE TIB PROJECTS, AS AMENDED, LISTED FOR STATEWIDE COMPETITIVE FUNDING. JIM CAROTHERS, CITY OF CAMAS, SECONDED THE MOTION AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
Michael Haggerty, C-TRAN, asked for confirmation that the requested changes would be listed in the RTC Board materials for the September 2004 meeting. Dale Robins confirmed that the changes will be reflected in RTC Board materials.
III. 2007 STP Project Evaluation, Prioritization, and Selection, Action
The Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) identifies and prioritizes federally funded and regionally significant projects across all travel modes and jurisdictions. The MTIP includes a priority list of projects to be carried out in each of the next three years and a financial plan that demonstrates how it can be implemented. Dale Robins said that Congress has not passed a new federal transportation act therefore the region does not know what funding will be available. Nevertheless, we are moving ahead to add projects in year 2007 of the MTIP that will be funded with funds that come to RTC’s Transportation Management Area (TMA) urban area. We will assume that, as in previous years, there will be about $3 million dollars in STP-TMA funds available for the year.
Dale reviewed the project selection process that consists of (1) Project Screening: projects are reviewed for consistency with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), land use plans, air quality goals, and regional screening criteria. (2) Evaluation and Ranking by Needs Criteria: each project is evaluated and ranked against a set of needs criteria adopted by the RTC Board. (3) Project Selection and Programming: projects are programmed for funding utilizing the project information generated by the project evaluation and ranking.
Dale Robins stated that the current MTIP project evaluation and prioritization process will be the basis for project selection and programming of 2007 STP-TMA funds in the 2005-2007 MTIP. Projects currently programmed in the 2004-2006 MTIP can be carried into the 2005-2007 MTIP. Dale said the project selection process begins with the completion and submittal of the RTC Federal Project Summary Form. Projects are then screened by regional screening criteria to ensure eligibility. Dale explained that six applications were submitted to RTC but one project was removed from consideration because it was asking for funding in 2004.
Dale said projects were evaluated according to how they met the adopted regional selection criteria including congestion management, TDM/TSM, safety, multimodal, economic development, financial/implementation, and air quality. He explained that a planning project was submitted that cannot be adequately evaluated against the needs criteria. RTC staff met with staff from applicant agencies to review the accuracy of the evaluation. Based on evaluation, projects are ranked in the following order: (1) NE 138th Avenue, 18th to 28th. (Score 78), (2) NE 72nd Avenue, 88th St. to St. Johns Rd. (Score 75), (3) NE 88th Street, St. Johns Rd. to Andresen Rd. (Score 59), (4) NE 15th Avenue, Union Rd. to 179th St,. (Score 47). Dale pointed out that the NW 26th Avenue Extension and Rail Bypass was unranked because it is more of a rail bypass project that does not fit the evaluation criteria. Dale explained that because it is an application to fund an EIS RTC treated this as a planning study separate from the other road projects. Dale said RTC staff met with local staff last week to review the evaluation and scores. Dale said all jurisdictions were comfortable with the evaluation. Dale distributed a list showing “2007 Staff Recommendations” with the NE 138th Avenue project as priority 1, NE 72nd Avenue (right of way only) as priority 2 and NW 26th Avenue as priority 3. Phil Wuest, City of Vancouver, commented that the NW 26th Avenue EIS project had requested $900,000 in federal funds but because of funding limits, the project is being recommended by staff for only $600,000 in federal funds. The Port of Vancouver will fund the $300,000 difference. Dale commented that RTC is interested in participating in this regional study.
PHIL WUEST, CITY OF VANCOUVER, MADE THE MOTION TO CONCUR WITH THE STAFF EVALUATION AND RANKING FOR 2007 STP-TMA FUNDING. MICHAEL HAGGERTY, C-TRAN SECONDED THE MOTION AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
IV. CMAQ Programming, Discussion
Dale Robins, RTC, presented the CMAQ programming discussion. He said that the Vancouver, Washington area was, until recently, considered a maintenance area for both ozone and carbon monoxide. Based on these designations and the region’s population, the region received approximately $1.9 million annually in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding. These CMAQ funds were used to fund transit, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), bike, pedestrian, congestion monitoring, and other projects that provide an air quality benefit. Mark Harrington, RTC, said we are a joint Portland-Vancouver maintenance area for ozone and are separate areas for CO. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently changed from a one-hour to an eight-hour ozone standard. With the new eight-hour standard, this region is now designated as an ozone attainment area. Dale said we can reach a fairly high peak for ozone on hot summer days but the Pacific Northwest usually cools down at night so the region does not exceed the eight hour ozone air quality standard. Although now designated as an ozone attainment area, RTC is required to continue, through June 2005, to determine conformity for ozone using the one-hour standard.
Dale said that when the 2004-2006 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) was adopted, CMAQ dollars were programmed through year 2006 based on the $1.9 million per year funding estimate. During preparation of a federal transportation act reauthorization, it became apparent that CMAQ dollars would no longer flow to regions, such as ours, that were previously designated as maintenance/non-attainment areas under the one-hour ozone standard but which now meet the new eight hour standard. In the spring of 2004, RTC requested that CMAQ projects programmed in the 2005 and 2006 years of the MTIP not proceed. Dale said that it is estimated that our CMAQ funding may be reduced by 45% which means the Vancouver urban area will now receive approximately $1,045,000 annually instead of $1.9 million that we received last year.
Dale said because of the decreased funding, a financially constrained strategy must be developed before CMAQ projects can be programmed in the 2005-2007 MTIP. On August 6, 2004, RTC staff met with agencies with CMAQ projects programmed in the current MTIP. Dale reported on the direction provided by the group. Dale explained that the group did not want to delete projects and start over but wanted to keep the project priorities already established. They also wanted to keep the project whole as much as possible. Dale distributed copies of a chart, “CMAQ w/SAFETEA Estimates”, showing various options. For comparison purposes, the chart showed the current MTIP which is over-programmed for CMAQ funds given the reduced funding. Another option would reduce federal CMAQ funding for all projects by 44% with a greater amount of local funding required to complete the projects. Another option would remove some projects, reduce other programmed projects and retain others. Dale reported the group came up with the “Remove/Reduce” option that would allow jurisdictions to remove projects where they had multiple projects yet keep their higher priority projects whole or if they had only one project they would take a reduction. Dale reported the chart is reported by agency. C-Tran’s reduction was 39%, Camas was 100%, Clark County was, 60%, RTC 41% and City of Vancouver 42%.
Dale said what is needed from RTAC is a recommendation for which of the options the Committee feels most closely meets the intent of the originally adopted MTIP. The consensus of RTAC members was to go along with the “CMAQ w/Project Removal or Reduction” option.
V. MTP Update Tasks, Discussion
Lynda David, RTC, led a discussion on the MTP update. She reminded RTAC that regular MTP update is a federal and state requirement to ensure continuation of transportation funding to the region. MTP update is needed to both fulfill federal requirements and to maintain consistency between state, regional and local plans. The Comprehensive Growth Management Plan updates for Clark County and the cities are to be the basis for the MTP update. Lynda pointed out that an MTP update was adopted in December 2002 with an amendment in December 2003. Air quality conformity analysis was carried out on the December 2002 MTP. While the Comprehensive Plan update process is still not finalized there are a number of MTP elements that RTAC can begin to work on to progress toward the MTP update anticipated for 2005. Lynda highlighted MTP update work elements that would require RTAC attention.
There was some discussion of land use allocations for input to the regional travel forecast model that would serve as the basis for the MTP update as well as other significant regional transportation studies. Phil Wuest, City of Vancouver, commented that the region has been awaiting revisions to the land use allocation for 2 ½ to 3 years. He said that RTAC might need to request that the RTC Board weigh on in on this need.
Evan Dust, Clark County, cautioned that RTAC might want to take some time before formulating land use allocations for long range planning. Evan said he suspected that legal counsel would advise that producing a land use forecast for the land use plan, when the small size of the urban boundaries may be challenged, could result in under forecasting the traffic demand on the transportation system. Lynda David commented that an MTP update would be required to be adopted by December 2005 at the very latest and would have to move forward.
One of the elements to be updated is the federal functional classification of roads in Clark County. Lynda distributed a map showing the current status of federal functional classification which shows the updated federal aid urban area boundary but which now needs a comprehensive update to the functional classification where care is taken to be as close as possible to functional classifications contained within the updated comprehensive plans of local jurisdictions. Lynda said she would be working with each individual jurisdiction to complete this process. Lynda continued to review each chapter and said addressing level of service is another challenge for RTAC and the RTC Board. Lynda reminded RTAC that the MTP must be fiscally constrained. Projects can only be included in the MTP if there is a reasonable expectation that revenues will be available to fund them.
Lynda said that the most important list for jurisdictions to provide input to is the list of MTP projects contained in Appendix A. Capacity adding projects must be identified in the MTP before they can be programmed for federal funding in the MTIP. Projects also have to be identified in the MTP before they can compete for state TIB funding. Minor type improvements, such as intersection turn pockets etc, are not called out individually in the MTP. Lynda noted that air quality conformity analysis requirements would be changing over time given the revised air quality classifications of this region as discussed in the CMAQ agenda item. Ozone conformity will not have to be analyzed as part of the MTP process after June 15, 2005. SWCAA is scheduled to submit a modified CO Maintenance Plan in 2004. It is anticipated that after EPA approval of a modified CO Maintenance Plan, CO air quality conformity determinations for the regional plan and program would no longer be required. CO project conformity, however, will still be mandatory.
Lynda reported that she and Michael Haggerty of C-TRAN recently attended a workshop in Seattle on NEPA issues. Regulatory agencies, FHWA and FTA are increasingly looking for the planning process to address potential environmental impacts at the earliest opportunity, for example as part of the MTP process. This is something we need to be aware of during this region’s MTP update.
VI. Other Business
John Fratt said August 31st is his last day of employment as a full time employee of the Port of Vancouver. Dale, on behalf of RTAC, thanked John for his work in transportation. Phil Wuest, City of Vancouver, also thanked John for raising the profile of the critical rail issues of the southwest region. RTAC members motioned to offer a wholehearted thank you for John Fratt’s service to transportation and for participation as an RTAC member. The motion was unanimously approved. Dale reported that Mary Legry, WSDOT, would also be retiring at the end of August 2004.
A. RTAC Members
Bill Wright, Clark County, thanked Dale Robins for coordinating the TIB applications and said he appreciated his hard work.
B. RTC Staff
- TIB Project Applications: due to RTC by Monday, August 30, 2004
- 6-Year Road Programs/TIPs: due to RTC by Monday, August 30, 2004
- Federal Triennial MPO Certification Review, week of Sep. 27 to Oct. 1, 2004
Sharon Nasset, citizen, questioned what provisions Washington State has for public/private partnership funding for transportation projects compared with Oregon. Sharon said that one of her interests is a port to port crossing of the Columbia and the need for state and local matching funds. RTAC members had some discussion on this issue.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 a.m. The next meeting will be Friday, September 17, 2004.
Regional Transportation Council
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Vancouver, Washington 98660Tel: 360-397-6067
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