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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOW 2005-04-11 Item 4F - Discussion - Strander Extension and Sounder Station (Longacres) COUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS iUeefill Date _u________________n_n_____h_n III i fia IJ __n_____nn___n_n__u__nuu Co,J.fI1ci/ ret'im' V\L ITElvI No. 04/11/05 l.\ ,~ · ITEM INFORMATION CAS NUMBER: OS'-Obl I ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: Apri 1 11, 2005 AGENDA ITE\I TITLE Renton/Tukwila/Sound Transit Discussions re: Strander and Sounder Station. CATEGORY cg] Disctlssion o i\;[otioll o Resolution o Ordinance o Bid AUJard o Public Hearing o Other M{g Date 04/11/05 Mtg Do~e :11{gpate ll{{g Date Mtg Date Mtg Date Mtg Date SPONSOR o Council o j\;lq}or o Adm 5 vcs cg] DCD o Finance o Fire o Legal Dp&R o Police DpW SPONSOR'S Renton and Sound Transit are negotiating the reallocation of Sound Transit funds from the SU\L.\1ARY NE 8th St/I-405 Direct Access project to other transit projects in Renton. The proposed reallocation of funds directly affects the Strander project, and indirectly affects the Longacres Sounder station. A meeting has been scheduled between elected representatives of Tukwila, Renton and the Sound Transit Board to discuss a proposed agreement on this reallocation. REVIEWED BY o COW:NItg. o CA&P Cmte o F&S Cmte cg] Transportation Cmte o Utilities Cmte DArts Comm. o Parks Comm. o Planning Comm, DATE: 02/28/05 RECOMMENDATIONS: SPONSOR/ ADMIN. Information only COi\il\HTTEE Forward to cow COST IMPACT I FUND SOURCE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED AMOUNT BUDGETED ApPROPRIATION REQUIRED $NA $NA $NA Fund Source: NA Comments: NA MTG.DATE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTION 04/11/05 MTG.DATE ATTACHMENTS 04/11/05 Memo from Steve Lancasster dated March 30, 2005 Renton, Tukwila & Sound Transit Results of February 9, 2005 Meeting Minutes, Transportation committee Meeting, 02/28/05 I I CITY OF TUK'VILA INTER-OFFICE lVIElYIO TO: SUBJECT: Jvlayor Mullet Steve Lancaster ~ ~ Renton-Tukwila-Sound Transit discussions involving Strander Extension project and Sounder Station FROj\I: DATE: Jvlarch 30, 2005 ISSUE Renton and Sound Transit are negotiating the reallocation of Sound Transit funds from the N 8th Street/I-405 Direct Access Interchange project to other transit projects in Renton. Tukwila has been involved because these negotiations directly involve the Strander Extension project and indirectly affect the Longacres Sounder station. A meeting of elected officials from Renton, Tukwila and the Sound Transit Board has been proposed to discuss resolution of issues. Council President Linder, Transportation Committee Chair Haggerton and SKCTBD representative Carter are scheduled to represent the City at this meeting. BACKGROUND Sound Move included approximately $88 million (from the eastside subarea account) for construction of a direct access interchange at N 8th Street and 1-405 in Renton. It has been determined the project cannot be accomplished for this amount at this time, but that it can be accomplished for somewhat less money in conjunction with WSDOT construction of certain future improvements to 1-405. It is proposed that $68 million be reserved for completion of this project in conjunction with the future 1-405 project, and that the remaining $19 million be reallocated to other transit improvement projects in Renton. Strander Extension. A top Renton priority for reallocation is the Strander Extension project. Tukwila staff has supported this priority as Renton's partners in the Strander project. Sound Transit staff\vill recommend that the Sound Transit Board reallocate $4 million to the Strander project. Sound Transit staff will also recommend a sizeable contribution to Renton's Rainier/Hardie Avenue S\V transit improvements. Additionally, tentative agreement has been reached to eliminate a planned access drive from Strander to the Longacres Sounders station, and associated "queue jumpers." This would save approximately $4.76 million on the Strander project. Tukwila staff has indicated support for this, if Sound Transit will work with the City to secure a future access from West Valley Highway. This would have the advantage of supporting Tukwila plans for a "Mall to Station" access corridor. Commuter Rail Station. Sound Transit's Unclassified Use Permit for the temporary Commuter Rail station expires in December 2007. Sound Transit's remaining budget for future improvements to this Q:\STEVE\RT A \Commuter Rail\RentonTukwilaST050330.doc 1 station is $6.6 million, which \vill not be sufficient to complete all the improvements originally planned. The following tentative agreements have been reached (at the staff level) \vith specific regard to the Tukwila Commuter Rail station: . Sound Transit 'will reactivate the design process for a permanent Tukwila Commuter Rail Station. . The permanent station will be located further to the south, consistent with the work being done by the City on the TUC plan. . Sound Transit will analyze location of the proposed access from West Valley High\vay, consistent with City plans for the "Mall to Station" access corridor. . Tukwila will pay for the additional costs needed to coordinate with the City's "Mall to Station" access plans, subject to approval of the design consultant's scope and budget (funding to come from our TUC/TOD grant). . So-y.nd Transit will make "interim" improvements to the Commuter Rail station consistent with the approved permanent station plans, to the extent possible within the Sound Move "Phase 1" budget for the station, subject to City Council approval through the Unclassified Use Permit process. . Sound Transit will include funding needed to complete the permanent station improvements in any "Phase 2" funding proposal, and will complete the permanent improvements when Phase 2 funding is secured. Note that the "interim" improvements to be made to the Commuter Rail station could be in place for the foreseeable future, if Sound Transit is unsuccessful in obtaining approval for Phase 2. This could mean that Longacres way would serve as the sole public access to the station for an undetermined period. Sound transit has budgeted $200,000 for improvements to this access. Attached for your information is a draft outline of the tentative agreement reached by staff from the three agencies. Please note that only items III and IV involve Tukwila. ALTERNATIVES The City could choose to not participate in the Renton/Sound Transit issues, and rely on the Unclassified Use Permit process to resolve Commuter rail station issues (the current UUP expires in December 2007). RECOlVIMENDA TION City to continue participating in resolution of these issues. Next step is meeting between elected officials from the three agencies. Cc: Rhonda Berry Jim Morrow Lucy Lauterbach Q:\STEVE\R T A \Commuter Rail\RentonTukwilaSTOS0330.doc 2 Renton, Tukwila & Sound Transit Results of February 9, 2005 Meeting I. N 8th Street HOV Access A. Areas of Agreement . Direct Access Interchange at N 8th Street and 1-405 is preferred alternative to provide HOV access to north Renton . ST Budget to be reserved for N 8th Street is $67,914,172 . Remaining funds available for potential reallocation by the Board to Renton area HOV projects with transit benefits is $19,043,880 . WSDO.T and,ST.wi.ll continue to advance.N 8th Street project and 1-405 widening project through September 2005 working on right of way and environmental elements . N 8th HOV Access project depends on WSDOT widening and realignment of 1- 405 to be feasible; WSDOT does not have final design or construction funding . Renton and ST will need to support WSDOT in efforts to secure funding for 1- 405 widening through north Renton B. Issues to Resolve . N one remaining II. Rainier/Hardie Ave SW SAT lanes and Circulation Improvements A. Areas of Agreement . Staff recommend a HOV/Circulation project on Hardie Ave SW Ave from Sunset Blvd to Rainier Ave consisting of north and southbound BAT lanes, medians, replacement and widening of the BNSF Railroad Bridge, and a transit signal at Hardie Ave SW and Rainier. With less than 5% engineering completed, this project is estimated to cost $15million. Of this, the bridge is estimated to cost $5.2 million. Project also includes roadway reconstruction and general purpose traffic and safety imprqvements . Staff recommend a reconstruction project on Rainier Ave from S 2nd St to S 4th PI consisting of circulation and access control elements, sidewalk and bus stop improvements, eastbound transit queue jumper at the S 3rd 8t intersection and transit signal priority system costing about $6.3 million . Regarding the Hardie Ave project, City will provide 50% of bridge widening costs and contribute to payment for portions of the general purpose improvements along Hardie Ave. City share will be $3.1 million for Hardie Ave, and ST share of $11.8 million. City and ST to share cost savings from value engineering or reduced scope. . Regarding Rainier Ave, ST contribution of $3 million, and City to provide $3.3 million. City and ST to share cost savings from value engineering or reduced scope. CDOCW.IE-I \STEVE--l_LAP\LOCALS-1 \T ell1p'<~-<).05-I.DOC - I - · ST \vill recommend to the Board a contribution of $15 million for the transit improvement portions of these projects. City \vill provide remaining funds of $6.4 million B. Issues to Resolve . None remaining other than establishing lead on projects and management agreement terms III. Strander Blvd: West Valley Highway to Boeing Access A. Areas of Agreemen~ · Renton obtaining UP agreement for consideration of track relocation is a break-tproug~ ac~oJ}1plishment which reduces cost of Strander Blvd and makes project more feasible . Renton, Tukwila and ST support the alternative which seeks to relocate UP tracks to east alongside BNSF tracks allo\ving Strander Blvd to cross over the combined tracks · City estimate based on 15% plans is that total project cost including Tukwila Station Access and queue jumpers along Strander Blvd is $54,178,000 . ST will drop request for access from Strander Blvd to Tuk\vila Station reducing project cost by $2.57 million; there will be no direct access from the Tukwila Station to Strander Blvd . ST will drop request for queue jumper at Strander Blvd station access reducing project cost by $2.19 . ST staff will support recommendation to ST Board for contribution of $4 million to project including proportional share of frontage improvements ($2.7 m) and full payment ($1.3m) for transit queue jumper lanes at Lind, Oaksdale, and Boeing Access. . Tukwila desires two accesses to Sounder station. If access from Strander is eliminated, Sound Transit will work with Tuk\vila to secure an alternative second access. B. Issues to Resolve . Need to establish terms of agreement IV. Tukwila Commuter Rail Station A. Areas of Agreement . Based on completion of 30% plans in April for Strander Blvd including design of relocated UP tracks, ST will reactive design process for Tuk\vila Station . Renton, Tukwila, and ST staff agrees on proposed relocation of permanent station to south of temporary station site. This site is consistent with recommendations expected frOlD Tuk\vila Urban Center plan and the Strander Blvd project design C:DOCU~IE-I ,STEVE--I.L-\P\LOCALS-j""T emp-':~-9-(J5-I.DOC - 2 - . Tuk\vila requests that ST design team analyze location of proposed access from West Valley High\vay, in light of the City's plans for an access corridor connecting the mall to the proposed station site. Tuk\vila \vill reil11burse ST for additional cost for this analysis, subject to City approval of scope and budget. . Longacres Way via West Valley High\vay may be the sole access to the Tuk\vila Station for an undetermined period. ST commitment of $200,000 is available for improvements needed relating to this access . ST, Tukwila, Renton, and UP support the closure of the Longacres underpass through the BNSF track . ST will exchange property needed for relocation of UP tracks within station site for UP property of equ'fl size with equal property rights and clean of all hazardous materials and utilities. City will incorporate this requirement in the relocation agreement with UP. .' Cost estimates for pemianent station significantly exceed available budget. There are also increased costs to ST from relocation of station and construction of station that is compatible with proposed track relocation. . Construction of permanent station should be completed prior to relocation of UP tracks which must occur prior to construction of Strander Blvd. However, an alternative schedule will be explored in which movement of the UPRR tracks and construction of Strander Blvd could happen prior to construction of the permanent station in case Strander Blvd is funded before the permanent station is funded. . Prior to December, 2007 ST will work with the City of Tukwila to develop a plan for improvements needed to provide progress towards construction of the permanent station as part of ST II. ST will consider and Tukwila will identify early construction of any elements of the permanent station that can be built using existing funding, as part of Tukwila's decision on renewing the station's Unclassified Use Permit. . City of Renton will work to seek Boeing agreement \vith closure of Long acres Underpass at the BNSF tracks B. Issues to Resolve . What traffic improvements will be needed in connection with the interim "single access" via Longacres Way? How can secondary emergency access be provided? c: DOCT\!E-]'STEVE--I.L.-\P'-LOCAI.S- ]'Temp\2-9-05-! .DOC - 3 - -~..# .,;,. ~ ; ~ Transportation Committee February 28, 2005 Present: Jim Haggerton, Chair; Joe Duffie, Pam Carter Jim Morrow, Frank Iriarte, Robin Tischmak, Cyndy Knighton, Bob Giberson, Steve Lancaster, Derek Speck, Lucy Lauterbach; Stacy Trussler, Ross Fenton, Craig Stone- WSDOT; Bryan King-Echo NW 1. 1-405 Con2estion Relief & Bus Rapid Transit Project WSDOT is trying to plan projects that can be done if the state gets any transportation funding for the 1-405 project. The entire project includes the entire length of 1-405 from 1-5 in the south to its 1-5 cOlli1ection in the north. WSDOT has broken the project into J;I1any small pieces, getting done what it can when they get funding. The Nickel package passed in 2003 provided money for three such sections, including a small portion from Tukwila to Renton's SR 167. $485 million has been allocated to part of this project. Last year WSDOT had explored Option D, but that did not move because of a lack of funding. Now they are working on options for dealing with the traffic jams that occur because of vehicles getting onto or off of SR 167. More funding is needed to address the 1-405 problems, but attention seems to be going to the Viaduct and SR 520 more than 1-405. One stream of thought is that it would be good to improve 1-405 before the Viaduct is closed for repairs, giving some people the option of staying on 1-405 instead of going on 1-5. In the longer teffil an additional lane would be added between 1-5 and SR 167 both driving east and driving west, though additional funding is needed for both. They are hoping for funding in the 2007-2009 biennium. Information. 2. Concurrency At the last meeting the committee had talked about options for determining level of service, which is of great interest to developers. The topic this meeting was how to assess impact fees. Bryan Kean of Echo NW spoke of the various sources of funding, what makes sense and what is viable to actually do. He talked briefly of options such as local option gas tax, LID, and voted property tax increases as well as traffic impact fees. There is no silver bullet for funding, nor any easy way to decide impact fee levels. Developers would like a standard fee applied per trip to each developer, but there are other options to consider. Information. 3. Strander Extension proiect and Sounder Sound Transit is redistributing some funding they had planned but will not use at N. 8th St /1-405 in Renton, which they now plan do when the 1- 405 project is done there. Sound Transit plans to give Renton approximately $4 million to use on Strander, and some transit improvements elsewhere in Renton. Sound Transit still has an unclassified use permit for the Commuter Rail station at TOD. Their budget for the station is $6.6 million, which is not enough to complete a new station. Staff had reached tentative agreement with Sound Transit staff on several points related to the station, such as planning its location to the south of the property, access from West Valley, and promising to get funding to co,mplete a station in Phase 2 of their funding cycle. The city will pay to get access for the Mall to Station project. Elected officials from Renton, Tukwila, and Sound Transit will talk about these issues and a proposed agreement containing some of them. Recommend issue to COW possiblv after the elected officials' meetin2.