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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Approved by Council: 03/27/2018