Planning 2013-05-23 Complete Transportation Background Report

Browse Search

City of Tukwila: Background Report for the Transport Transportation Analysis and 2030 Improvement Recan May 2012 EXECUTIVE 1614p , 1%;17.- /it ilif1111111M111 YtJrfll�,ll� Irr The Transportation Element of the City of Tukwila's Comprehensive Plan is used to ensure that adequate transportation infrastructure is provided to accommodate future land use growth as required by the Growth Management Act. An important component to fulfilling the transportation goals and policies outlined in the Transportation Element is an assessment of existing and future transportation system performance. This report highlights a multimodal assessment of existing and future transportation operations and suggests a list of recommended improvements to ensure that Tukwila's residents and visitors can conveniently access all areas in the City for years to come. This Background Report is divided into two main parts: Existing Conditions and Future Conditions. The first part focuses on the existing conditions of Tukwila's transportation system and highlights how well the current system accommodates travel by bicycle, pedestrian, and automobile modes. As described in Chapter 2, Tukwila's transportation system generally accommodates auto travel well, with just a handful of locations operating at a poor automobile level of service (LOS). However, the pedestrian and bicycle modes are not well served, with many corridors in the city operating poorly. In many ways, the existing performance of the transportation system reflects how performance has historically been evaluated —with a strong bias towards auto travel. A key feature of this new analysis is a focus on other modes, notably pedestrian and bicycle travel. While there are also means to assess transit LOS, this was not a focus of this analysis since the City of Tukwila does not have any control over transit service. This assessment uses the latest methodologies from the Transportation Research Board to assess multimodal level of service (MMLOS) and represents the first widespread use of this technique in the State of Washington. Through the application of the MMLOS method, the City has gained an understanding of its results and applicability, as well as its limitations. These limitations principally are 1) inability to consider urban form; 2) the lack of sensitivity to terrain; and 3) lack of consideration of other principal bicycle and /or pedestrian amenities. Given these limitations, the City should establish policy guidelines related to how the results of the MMLOS analysis should be interpreted. The second part (Chapters 3 -5) of this document focuses on future year automobile travel and LOS. MMLOS analysis was not performed under 2030 conditions since the MMLOS techniques are largely focused on the present physical conditions as opposed to future travel demands and therefore 2030 MMLOS conditions would be about the same unless there were major changes to the pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Using the results of the existing conditions MMLOS and 2030 auto LOS analyses, a set of transportation system improvements was developed. Cost estimates and revenue projections were calculated and a final set of cost - constrained, prioritized multimodal projects was developed. The recommended transportation improvement project list in this report combines input from City staff, its consultants, the City's current Transportation Improvement Program, and the City's Walk and Roll nonmotorized transportation plan. It is expected that this list of projects will form the foundation for future transportation investments in the City. FEHR i EER. 11111 111111111