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2018, 03-16 Special Mtg MINUTES City of Spokane Valley Special Council Meeting 7:30 a.m. Friday,March 16, 2018 City of Spokane Valley City Hall Council Chambers 10210 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley,Washington Attendance: Spokane Valley Council Staff' Mayor Higgins Mark Calhoun, City Manager Deputy Mayor Haley John Hohman, Deputy City Manager Councilmember Thompson Cary Driskell, City Attorney Councilmember Wick Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Councilmember Wood Gloria Mantz, Engineering Manager Councilmember Woodard Mike Basinger, Economic Dev. Mgr. Bill Helbig, City Engineer Absent: Colin Quinn-Hurst, Sr. Trans. Engineer Councilmember Peetz Carolbelle Branch, Public Info. Officer Carrie Koudelka, Deputy City Clerk Mayor Higgins called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m.He welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the Valley Chamber of Commerce for the donuts and coffee. Deputy City Clerk Koudelka called the roll; all Councilmembers were present except Councilmember Peetz. It was moved by Councilmember Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Councilmember Peetz from the meeting. 1. Overview: Barker Road/BNSF Grade Separation Project—John Hohman,Mark Calhoun City Manager Calhoun said today's meeting is about the Barker Rd/BNSF Grade Separation Project and the surrounding infrastructure.He said Frank Tombari of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce will moderate the meeting following the presentation and staff will be available after the meeting to answer questions.Deputy City Manager Hohman said we are here today because our fourth district legislators have concerns about the project and asked that the City do additional public outreach to get public comments about the project. He said this is the third meeting we have had,the first meeting a couple weeks ago did not have public comments but we had forty-five minutes worth of public comments at last Tuesday's Council meeting and we will take comments today and again at the March 27th Council meeting. Beginning the presentation, Mr. Hohman said the project is intended to get Barker Rd over the BNSF railroad tracks and improve the intersection at Barker and Trent.He said the project is located in the northeast section of the City and he said it is a strange intersection with various elements and it is a technically difficult project to fix from an engineering standpoint.He said the Northeast Industrial Area is about 840 acres and approximately 575 acres of undeveloped property.He said we have been successful in recruiting manufacturing companies and some of those acres are currently developing.He said some of the benefits to improving the intersection include improving safety and eliminating at-grade crossings. He said currently there is a failing level of service at Trent and Barker, at level "F,"and there have been a number of injury accidents at the intersection. He said the City commissioned EcoNorthwest in 2015 to look at economic benefits of this area and determined at full build-out it is a very beneficial area for the community. He said the City began an Economic Development program in 2012 and an ad-hoc committee was commissioned by the Council that included Councilmember Wick and former Councilmember Grassel, to look at the economy and economic development efforts and we decided to focus on manufacturing.The City formed partnerships with GSI for recruitment and Spokane County for sewer improvements and environmental services,and we developed relationships with property owners in the area.He said staff developed a plan to address the shortfalls in roads and infrastructure and Council felt this was an Special Council Meeting,Barker/BNSF Grade Separation 03/16/2018 Page 1 of 5 Approved by Council: 03/27/2018 important area to develop and authorized the use of City funds to reconstruct Euclid Avenue,allowing the sewer lines into the area and providing the backbone to the system. He said without the grade separation project it is very hard to move anything into this area because by state law we have to have an ordinance that prohibits development if approval of the development causes the level of service on a locally owned transportation facility to decline below adopted standards in our Comprehensive Plan. He said the intersection at Trent and Barker is already at an"F"so it is hard to move anything forward without a plan for the deficiencies.He said the clock is ticking and per WAC 365-196-840(6)(a)(ii)we are to have the strategies in place to complete the improvements within six years. He said we have been working with a consultant for the last fourteen months and he then introduced Scott Marshall from HDR Engineering to discuss the Bridging the Valley plan and alternatives for the project. Mr. Marshall said he has been working on Bridging the Valley projects since 2011, and the original design for Barker was similar to the current diamond interchange alternative and included four bridges,three crossing the BNSF lines, including ramps and a roundabout to the north. He said they evaluated that plan and with that configuration it cost more than the $45.3 million of the diamond interchange. He said it did not seem like a practical or constructible option.The 2004 diamond interchange concept consisted of ramps realigning Wellesley to the south and a four-lane structure over the railroad tracks to accommodate six tracks, it included a six-lane bridge across Trent to accommodate heavy left-hand turn movements from Wellesley and Barker. The 2016 traffic analysis indicated the diamond interchange wasn't warranted based on the SRTC 2040 projections. He said the ramps are longer on the Barker diamond interchange design vs. the Sullivan Bridge due to the new WSDOT design standards and clearance needed for trains to pass under. Mr.Hohman said the City has had many discussions about the diamond interchange and assumed thirty percent of the design was completed but that was incorrect and he said we would be starting from scratch and we are now struggling to come up with funds for design. He said Council was uncomfortable with the design and the motion to approve the design contract failed in January,2017. In February,he said staff was directed to pursue design alternatives and they considered approximately a dozen options with six that were the most favorable.He said there were a number of presentations to Council discussing the options.Mr.Marshall said the original design considerations had a crossing for six railroad tracks,three dedicated to BNSF and three to Union Pacific(UP). Since then,the two have decided not to collocate in the same corridor so that is no longer an option.He said they looked at different alignments, whether the alignment should be an overpass or underpass, and whether the intersection is controlled with a signal or a roundabout. Mr. Marshall briefly touched on the six alternatives detailed in the slides. Deputy City Manager Hohman said the City had a number of public outreach meetings in addition to the Council meetings in 2017 kicked off by a bus tour on October 4,2017 sponsored by Senator Padden.He said the outreach meetings were targeted to connect with local individuals, property owners, emergency responders, trucking companies, the Industrial Park, and Centennial Properties. The public outreach meeting held on October 18, 2017,had over 120 people in attendance,most were favorable in moving a project forward and options 1 and 5 rose to the top. He said option 4 was not held in high favor because it was too far out of the way for access. He said some of the common concerns with the project included anticipation that Flora may have to be closed, impact on traffic flow with a roundabout,longer trips for Wellesley traffic in alternative 2 and 3,and many from the Highland Estates neighborhood expressed concerns with access to the neighborhood and impact of a diamond interchange to the neighborhood access point.He said an additional access point to the neighborhood is not part of this project or warranted by this project but the ability to connect to this project with a fourth leg is a possibility. He said it is out of the scope of the project and outside the City's jurisdiction because the neighborhood and the fourth leg access is in Spokane County. He said we have been in discussion with the County and WSDOT and that is continuing to be coordinated. City Engineer Helbig said the designs need to meet WSDOT standards in and through the evaluations and analyses they did,they found alternative 5 is the preferred alternative.He said it is estimated to cost$19 million in 2020 construction dollars and as far as intersection safety, roundabouts don't have the t-bone accidents that signalized intersections have, accidents in roundabouts are mostly sideswipes so there is very low property Special Council Meeting,Barker/BNSF Grade Separation 03/16/2018 Page 2 of 5 Approved by Council:03/27/2018 damage cost and very low injury. He said in projecting a 2040 safety analysis, the signalized intersection accidents are much higher due to increased population and traffic and significantly decreased if a roundabout is utilized.He said once the public is used to the roundabouts,the perception is they find them to be better and they have a lower maintenance cost because they operate without electricity. Mr. Helbig said we have nearly $25 million in secured funding for the project, including FMSIB, TIGER and National Highway Freight Program (NHFP)funds to get started in 2020 with potential to finish the project in 2022. In summary,Mr.Hohman said staff looked at a lot of different alternatives for the project and focused again on the original design concept and found the other alternatives are not practical solutions.He said as engineers,we need to come up with designs that are practical,reasonable and meet the budget. He said we have coordinated efforts with WSDOT, stakeholders and the public, developed and evaluated alternatives and identified the fiscally responsible and attainable project solution, and he said for the cost of the diamond interchange option the City could build both the Pines Bridge separation project and Barker separation project alternative 5.He said when projecting full build-out, a roundabout works for today, 2040 and for years after 2040. Mr. Hohman said future growth in this area is dependent on moving forward with a solution and he said the clock is ticking and we could find ourselves at risk to permit development if we don't come up with a solution and build it. He said the NHFP and TIGER grant applications we received are dependent on alternative 5 or a similar design;he said we cannot use money from those grants for a diamond interchange so we would need to find alternative funds. He said we need to complete the conceptual work,conduct additional outreach and public meetings at this stage and throughout the design process. He said we will be looking for Council approval of the design concept on March 27 and for design approval at the following meeting. 2. Open Discussion: Facilitated by Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce Transportation Chair Mr. Frank Tombari Mr.Tombari thanked the City on behalf of the Chamber for allowing this dialog and opened the meeting to the public for questions. Commenter In Opposed Concern or Question&Response Demographic Favor Alt 5 Alt 5 Resident& Oversized loads:he asked if oversized loads can circumvent Business, roundabouts? Oversized Load Mr. Marshall said the dual-lane roundabout is designed to Operations accommodate two WB67 loads side by side,there may be a need for special flagging or a temporary closure but the oversized load truck can use the mounting apron,the roundabout will not have landscaping and will be concrete to be used by large trucks. Unspecified x Traffic Flow&Flora Closure:He said circles are disasters,he said currently traffic counts are 19,000 per day at that intersection and will grow,he asked how much of the circle is driven by funding rather than practicality of the diamond and wants to know why we would want to close Flora. Mr. Marshall said the closing of Flora has not been decided yet and the City is talking with BNSF about that.As an engineer, he said he thinks a roundabout is a really good idea, Liberty Lake is a good example,they are safer and because they are designing a dual lane roundabout,trucks will move safely as well. Mr. Hohman added that the City did not go into this project with any preconceived notions, they worked through the designs and analyzed them.The roundabout came in at about half the cost of the diamond interchange and he said as an engineer he can't ethically recommend to Council that we spend extra money on a project that is not warranted. Special Council Meeting,Barker/BNSF Grade Separation 03/16/2018 Page 3 of 5 Approved by Council:03/27/2018 Highland Estates x Traffic Flow&Safety:He said the public perception vs safety of Resident roundabouts:Federal Highway Transportation and other agencies "best practices"since the 1980's show roundabouts are safer and first responders move more quickly through roundabouts.Statistics from a study in the last year show that before roundabouts are built, 31%of people are for them and 41%are against but after they are built, 63%are for them and less than 15%are against. Business, x Traffic Flow&Safety:He said drivers at Sunshine Recyclers prefer the Sunshine roundabouts but they typically use them during off-peak hours. They Disposal are able to do a rolling stop through the roundabout rather than coming to a complete stop in a heavy vehicle and they are able to get moving again without holding up traffic behind them. He said roundabouts save maintenance costs on brakes and they are safe. He said a fatality incident occurred at a signalized intersection with one of their trucks when someone ran through the light and was hit by their truck. Highland Estates Highland Estates access:Peak-hour traffic on Del Rey already Resident difficult, why is a secondary access point not under consideration with this project? Mr. Hohman said connection to north Highland Estates is possible and has been considered but is outside the scope of this project. He said Whipple Engineering is working on a proposal and will discuss it with WSDOT;the intersection design is being done with potential access to link to the north. Business, WA Closure of Flora:would add traffic to Trent and limits access, he said Trucking& High he would like Flora to remain open. Mtn Horsepower Business, x Closure of Flora:he moves a lot of large loads from Flora onto Trent Wagstaff Inc. and employs 350+people at his facility on Wellesley, would like Flora Resident to remain open.Agrees a roundabout is an improvement over the other options. Business, Barker Rd&Sewer:Asked for clarification on the design of Barker Precision Cutting Road lanes and asked if we can extend the County sewer with the Technologies additional funds at the same time. Mr. Hohman said full buildout of Barker is three lanes, a north,a south and center turn lane. He said it is$8 million to upgrade Barker from the terminus of the grade separation project to the river and the County has put three different segments of sewer extensions in their capital improvement budget and we are trying to get funding for the road to match that. He said we are not in a position to say if we have extra funds yet. Business, Valley x Traffic Flow:He thanked Council,state and federal representatives Hospital for their work on this project. He said he came from a Colorado community where every signal intersection was replaced with a roundabout and at first people were against them but after they were embraced by the community and traffic flowed much better. Resident Noise&Safety:He inquired as to train traffic numbers and whistles per day, he asked if they pertain to BNSF or are they combined with UP and he asked if adding a fourth leg would severely impact the number of collisions per day/year in comparing the diamond interchange with a three-leg roundabout. Mr. Hohman said the traffic accident statistics are today's numbers, staff would need to analyze the impact of adding a fourth leg and Special Council Meeting, Barker/BNSF Grade Separation 03/16/2018 Page 4 of 5 Approved by Council: 03/27/2018 the statistics are for BNSF only. He said BNSF trains will increase but we don't know how much yet. Highland Estates x Highland Estates access:He said he thinks alternative 1 better Resident addresses the needs of the neighborhood but it is too costly. If the City goes with alternative 5 he would like it to include access to his neighborhood. Mr. Hohman said our traffic engineers have analyzed the three- legged roundabout and believe with the gaps in the traffic exiting the roundabout,it will not be a problem to Del Rey access onto Trent;however, he said,a fourth leg would help the situation at Del Rey. Highland Estates x Highland Estates access:He said he would like access to the Resident neighborhood to be included in alternative 5. County x Highland Estates access:She said the County is concerned and in Commissioner discussion with Spokane Valley to address the fourth leg.She is Kuney attending this meeting to listen to the concerns, the County takes them seriously, and they will look to see what they(at the County) need to do for a funding model.She said it is important to do the interchange for safety and economic development. Business, x He commented that the Liberty Lake roundabout turned out well and Centennial said he thinks a roundabout looks like a great, viable solution. He Properties said Spokane Valley has been great to work with, this is not an easy project, and thanked the City for their efforts. Business, Waste Safety:She thanked Council and staff for their hard work and said it Mgmt is important to look at this now and move forward.She said safety is a core value for Waste Management so anything the City can do to increase safety is appreciated. Business, x Highland Estates access:he said he has lobbied in support of the Development diamond intersection that allows access to Highland development and he would like to know what was in the TIGER grant that excludes the diamond interchange from funding. Business, x Roundabouts:She said the first weekend in June SRTC will have a Spokane panel on roundabouts as part of their education series for business Regional members that will include national experts to discuss emergency use, Transportation oversize loads,pedestrian issues and other topics pertaining to Council roundabouts. State Senator He thanked the Mayor and Council for having another outreach Padden session to listen to the concerns of the public. Mayor Higgins thanked the Spokane Valley Chamber for coordinating the meeting and again for the food and coffee, and he thanked Mr.Tombari for moderating. It was moved by Deputy Mayor Haley, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:41 a.m. ATTE j L.R. Hig�i • Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Special Council Meeting, Barker/BNSF Grade Separation 03/16/2018 Page 5 of 5 Approved by Council: 03/27/2018