City Council, January 14th - Crosswalks and Green Bike Lanes

Council meets on Monday the 14th. Councilor Leung will be sworn in for the first time.

Five Crossing Safety Projects
Project estimate is now at $566,220

On the agenda are a couple of intergovernmental agreements with ODOT for walking and biking projects. One is a set of five enhanced crosswalks, some with additional bikeway components on the Winter-Maple Greenway at Pine Street and Fairgrounds Road. These are scheduled for construction in 2020. The very first estimates totalled about $250,000. Once the projects were scoped in more detail, the final estimate and contract was for $566,220. For two reasons this seems unlikely to be sufficient now. These were priced several years ago (notes from 2015 and 2016), and since then construction costs have risen. Additionally, the crossing on Fairgrounds is not a simple one, and though the City has not commented on this directly, it seems almost certain that the project will be phased and that the budget here will only afford partial construction.

There is a second agreement for signal enhancements and green bike lanes, but the project description is still a little vague:

Typical enhancements include intersection lighting upgrades, traffic signal equipment upgrades, the installation of protected/permissive left-turn phasing, and the installation of green bike lanes to alert motorists of the potential presence of bicyclists. One or more of these enhancements will be incorporated at each intersection identified above.

I think this is from the last round of All Roads Transportation Safety funding. Based on that 2016 description, here are the sites for green bike lanes:

• D Street and Lancaster Drive
• Market Street and Lancaster Drive
• 12th Street at Fairview (see the awkward bike lane transition in the new striping here)

But some projects from that 2016 list are not on this most recent list: The Commercial-Vista Corridor projects and Broadway at Pine Street.

The Staff Report does not explicitly reference the ARTS program, and it is unclear how directly the projects in this agreement follow from the ARTS list. (This is a way that transportation funding is rather opaque and mysterious to non-insiders.)

Restaurant concept for 245 Court Street, with some zig-zags

In the information items is a modification to the single-story retail space on the east side of the residential block at the 245 Court Street project.

At the MPO: 2018 - 2023 Area Project List Nearly Ready for Public Release

On Tuesday the 28th, the Policy Committee for our Metropolitan Planning Organization meets at noon, and there are several things to note. (Agenda and packet here.)

Release the TIP!

The biggest item is the draft 2018-2023 Transportation Improvement Program.

The main action will be a "Motion to direct staff to release the draft SKATS FY 2018-2023 TIP for public review and comment."

I think this will lead to an Open House, a formal comment period, and a Public Hearing.

What is a TIP?

The Executive Summary says:

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for federal fiscal year (FY) 2018-2023 is the region’s short range capital improvements program for roads, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, transit, and other transportation elements in the Salem-Keizer-Turner urbanized area...it includes lists of transportation projects proposed for FY 2018 through 2023. The TIP is developed through a cooperative planning process by the Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study (SKATS), this area’s federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

As part of the planning process for the development of the TIP, the financial plan covers proposed transportation investments. The financial plan demonstrates which projects can be implemented (annually) using current revenues and funding sources...

This document describes how more than $160 million will be invested to support our transportation system over the next four years. SKATS has discretion over programming nearly $40 million in federal funds for FY 2018-2021...

Federal requirements strongly shape the process, and there may not be much flexibility in it, but the comment period is positioned at the very end of a process that started in the spring of 2016.

The real opportunity for the public to shape or influence the TIP comes earlier in the process, mostly in 2016. It is an interesting exercise to consider what level of public comment - how much outrage really - it would take to alter substantially a project, to delete one, or to add one at this near end-stage to the TIP. (New projects would probably instead be added as amendments after this TIP is adopted. This happens routinely, it should be noted.)

Since the TIP is a compilation - the MPO doesn't originate projects - of projects mostly from cities, counties, and the state, at this point in the process this seems like an opportunity mainly for rubber-stamping rather than an opportunity to influence. Still, the aggregate of comment might help shape the next round of projects, as well as the on-going amendment process as new projects are added. They'll also begin working on the next one in not too long, and that's something to keep in mind.

Projects in the TIP

If in your peripheral vision you've noticed the City 's Capital Improvements Plan, the State's All Roads Transportation Safety program, the State's "Enhance" and "Fix-it" programs, as well as the "STBGP-U and TA-U funds" vetting here at the MPO, you'll be aware of many of the projects.

Detail from Figure 4, map of projects (legend enlarged)

But whether you've followed any of the processes or not, it's nice to see them all collated and mapped.

November 3rd Meetings: MWACT, Granny Flats, Grant Neighborhood

Thursday brings three meetings of some significance. Our Area Commission on Transportation, the City's committee on granny flats, and the Grant Neighborhood all meet.

MWACT - Area Commission on Transportation

Five Crossing Safety Projects
Final project estimate at $566,220

Our local Area Commission on Transportation, known variously as MWACT and MWVACT, meets on Thursday the 3rd, and a couple of items are interesting to note. (Agenda and packet here.)

Our region's final recommendation list (detail)

On the Enhance Non-Highway funding cycle for 2018-2021, both the County Hayesville bike lanes and sidewalks and the Salem crossing projects made the final cut. Absent an unpredictable melt-down, they're in the bag and they will be funded. (For previous notes and more details, see posts here.)

Key Bike Boulevard Crossings Stays in Line for State Funding

Our local Area Commission on Transportation meets Thursday the 1st, and the final recommendations in Region 2 for State funding in the 2018-2021 "Fix-it" and "Enhance" program cycles are on the agenda.

Five Crossing Safety Projects
Project estimate is now at $566,220

The Salem proposal for several enhanced crossings, including two for the Winter-Maple Bike Boulevard route, one of them for an intersection where Caroline Storm was killed last year, made the final cut as part of the 100% recommended list for funding.

Our area's 150% list, with 100% recommendation in green

Significantly, after formal scoping by ODOT, the project's estimate was raised once again, having already gone from $250,000 to $380,000. This time its estimate sits at $566,220.

The other recommended project is on Hayesville Drive NE for sidewalks and bike lanes, and outside of Salem proper in unincorporated Marion County.

Bike Boulevard Crossing Projects Continue to Advance for Funding in 2018-2021

Our local Area Commission on Transportation meets today, Thursday the 7th, and the Salem proposal for several enhanced crossings, including two for the the Winter-Maple Bike Boulevard route, one of them for an intersection where Caroline Storm was killed last year, continues to make progress as it is vetted for funding in the 2018-2021 cycle. (But other than a kind of progress report and check-in, there's nothing of great consequence on the agenda for us here.)

Five Crossing Safety Projects
Project estimate is now at $380,000

The crossing safety projects rank in a tie for third in the current scoring and looks to be funded. (Note the green and red scoring.)

Current rankings

At the top of the list is the Hayesville Drive NE project outside of Salem proper in unincorporated Marion County.

City Council, November 9th - Bike Boulevard Crossings

At Council on Monday is the decision to submit formally an application to construct five crossing safety projects, including two at key Winter-Maple Bike Boulevard crossings, on Pine at Maple, and on Fairground Road near Cottage.

There are a couple of other minor transportation items as well.

Five Crossing Safety Projects
Project estimate is now at $380,000

If you've been following the Non-Highway Enhance process, you'll already know about this.

If not, there's a pool of State/Federal money explicitly for non-auto-centric projects in the 2018-2021 cycle statewide. The City initially considered a bunch of project applications, including:

1. Finishing up the east portion of the Union Street Bikeway
2. The Hyacinth-Kroc Center Path
3. Planning for a new riverfront path north of the Union Street Railroad Bridge on the east bank and north to Keizer
4. The Second Street crossing under Wallace Road in West Salem
5. Sidewalk infill on South Commercial
6. New sidewalks and bike lanes on McGilchrist St SE between 12th and 25th.

Numbers four through six were judged not ripe enough, and one through three (plus the safety crossings) were advanced as concepts to our Metropolitan Planning Organization and Area Commission on Transportation.

The package of five safety crossings scored highest, and it alone of the four was recommended for advancement with a full application to ODOT.

The matter at Council authorizes the full application.

Local MPO to Look at Area Commission Rankings for Biking, Walking, and Transit

The Technical Advisory Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets tomorrow the 13th, and they'll be looking at the latest rankings for Federal and State "non-highway Enhance" funds for the 2018-2021 cycle.

On the first, you may recall, our area commission on transportation, MWACT, met and ranked the 15 area projects competing for these "non-highway Enhance" funds.

In that ranking there were four tiers. In the first:

• Cherriots replacement buses for the Wilsonville route
• Salem crossing projects, including two key Winter-Maple bikeway intersections
• Hayesville sidewalks and bike lanes
• A city of Carlton project for sidewalks and bike lanes

In the second:

• A city of Independence project for sidewalks and bike lanes
• Yamhill County replacement buses

In the third:

• A city of Newberg project for sidewalks and bike lanes
• East segment of the Family-friendly Bikeway on Union Street

And the rest  of them in a fourth tier that attracted no votes (click on the image at top for more detail).

You might also remember our local MPO's rankings.

Area Commission on Transportation Looks at Enhance and ConnectOregon VI

So last week our MPO, SKATS, looked at eight walk/bike/bus projects for State and Federal funding in the 2018-2021 cycle. This week those projects go up a level and join another seven from McMinnville, Stayton, Newberg and the rest of the mid-valley for a second round of evaluation and scoring. The Mid-Willamette Valley Area Commission on Transportation will also take its first look at the next round of lottery and video poker funding, ConnectOregon VI.

A Digression

This post is a bit dull and wonky, so here's a much more interesting historical note first from City Observatory and now from The Atlantic.

How tasteless suburbs become beloved urban neighborhoods http://t.co/4f8YTgMKXI pic.twitter.com/V23tsqfFRF

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) September 30, 2015

It's a very nice concrete example of change - of ways that things we might love now or might detest now might become radically revalued in just two or three generations. It's a caution against our prevailing assumptions today.

Enhance Program

Here are the rankings (from the MWACT steering committee agenda) of the eight Salem-Keizer area projects (here and here) for the non-highway "Enhance" program in the 2018-2021 cycle.

Local rankings from the Sept 22nd meeting

Buses for Cherriots was the leader followed by the Salem intersection and bikeway projects and the Hayesville, rather than 45th Ave, project. It will be interesting to learn more about the Cherriots ranking, but the three clustered for "second" seem solid.

Other proposed projects from the larger MWACT area include:

• Yamhelas Westsider Trail Acquisition: Two to acquire approximately two miles of an abandoned railroad right-of-way owned by Union Pacific Railroad, between Gaston and McMinnville ($560,000)
• Sidewalks, Crosswalks, and Bike lanes on Gun Club Road in Independence ($620,000)
• Sidewalks and Bike lanes on Wynooski Road, Springbrook Road, and OR-219 in Newberg ($2.8 million)
• Sidewalks and Bike lanes on Ninth Street in Dundee ($2.5 million)
• Sidewalks and Bike lanes on Marion Street in Stayton ($1.1 million)
• Six replacement buses for Yamhill County Transit ($1.6 million)
• Sidewalks and Bike lanes for Third Street in Carlton ($1 million)

It just seems ridiculous that these projects, which on the surface all look reasonable, are all going begging.

In any case, the recommended procedure from ODOT is for MWACT to pick their top five recommendations from this list of 15 to advance with a full application for final consideration. Region 2 has $9.25 million on offer, and there are two or three other regional ACTS that will also feed into Region 2 - ones centered on Astoria, Corvallis-Albany, and Eugene-Springfield.

The Next Round of Video Poker

ConnectOregon VI is getting ready to kick-off, and there will be a few changes. ConnectOregon is the multi-modal program funded by video poker and lottery dollars. It's great that there's this program explicitly focused on non-auto and non-highway things, but it should be embarrassing that we have to rely on gambling money and the misfortune of problem gamblers for it.

One slightly amusing change is that "operating expenses and purchase of bicycles are not eligible for ConnectOregon funding." This is a change as I read it specifically in response to the fact that Eugene secured funding for bike share under ConnectOregon V, and some folks didn't like that.

In the last round, the South Salem Transit Center secured a chunk of funding, but the Kroc Center - Claggett Creek path did not. The agenda packet contains a list of all the local ConnectOregon V applications, so we may see some of them again. The application process also overlaps with the Enhance process, so there are possibilities - perhaps even expectations - that the two programs can be coordinated on some projects or areas. Statewide, ConnectOregon expects to fund $45 million and Enhance $30 million. One important difference is that Enhance funding only requires a 10% local match, but ConnectOregon VI will require a 30% match. So on a $1 million project, Enhance only requires about $100,000 in local funding, but ConnectOregon would require $300,000.

Like the Enhance program, the final applications for ConnectOregon V will be due November 20th. Projects expect to be awarded in August of 2016. (You can read more about ConnectOregon V here.)

Look for the historic sign
next to the entry

The Steering Committee meets today, the 30th, to make a preliminary ranking for the Enhance list, and the full Commission meets Thursday, October 1st. (Full meeting packet here.)

MWACT meets Thursday the 1st at 3:30pm. It meets at MWVCOG/SKATS at 100 High St. SE, Suite 200, above Bar Andaluz and Table Five 08.

Eight Walk/Bike/Bus Projects to Battle at MPO for Funding Tuesday

Tomorrow, on Tuesday the 22nd, the Policy Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets, and they'll be prioritizing some bike/ped/bus projects to advance for the next round of evaluation.

Last week many of you took a poll on them. And we'll get to that. First, though, here's one analysis and a preferred priority.

In round numbers here's a $10 million project.

All of Region 2 gets to compete over this much funding
Wallace and Glen Creek Widening

ODOT Region 2 will award $9.25 million of "Enhance non-highway funds," mostly for walking, biking, and transit projects. Region 2 includes Lane, Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Polk, Marion, Yamhill, Tillamook, Clatsop, Columbia, southern Clackamas and western Washington counties.

For all cities and communities in Lane, Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Polk, Marion, Yamhill, Tillamook, Clatsop, Columbia, southern Clackamas and western Washington counties, biking and walking projects are competing over funds equivalent to one Glen Creek and Wallace Road widening.

On the one hand, that apportionment of federal funds still more than a lot of states devote to non-auto projects. On the other hand, it's still very small, and doesn't in a strategic way get us very far on reconfiguring our city life and transportation choices for a much lower-carbon future, for a healthier future, for a more vibrant future.

Institutionally speaking, we're still very much stuck on the primacy of the drive-alone trip and on the centrifugal forces pushing people to live on the edges of the city.

So that's kindof still where we're at.

Take the Poll: Pick Three Projects for State Funding in 2018-2021

Our MPO meets on Tuesday next week, and the agenda gives us the first look at area candidate projects for the 2018-2021 Statewide "Enhance Non-Highway" funds.

Later this week we'll come back around to the meeting agenda in more detail, but for the moment, let's take a brief look at the candidate projects. The goal for the meeting will be to craft a priority list to advance on to the next round of assessment. Committee members will be asked to vote for their top three projects.

So let's do the same!

If you want to be strict about the criteria, you can read it in the meeting packet here. But for our purposes I think it's more interesting just to ask outright, without hedging or otherwise qualifying or analyzing things, what three projects seem most important to you?

I'll present a very brief description of each, and at the end will be a poll. Pick three only!

• 45th Avenue Sidewalks and Bike Lanes (County)
• Brooklake Road Sidewalks and Bike Lanes (County)
• Two Replacement Commuter Buses (Cherriots)
• Planning for Eastbank Trail (Salem)
• Hayesville Drive Sidewalks and Bike Lanes (County)
• Claggett Creek Path from Hyacinth to Kroc Center (Salem)
• Five Crossing Safety Projects, including two key Winter-Maple Bikeway crossings (Salem)
• Eastern portion of Union Street Bikeway (Salem)

Greenhouse Gas Modeling, Discredited Congestion Report at MPO Yesterday

From the SKATS-TAC meeting packet for Sept 8th

The Technical Advisory Committee of our local Metropolitan Planning Organization (SKATS) met yesterday, and one of the items on the agenda was a politically motivated "study" by the Texas Transportation Institute. The report is an annual ritual of hydraulic autoism that seeks to alarm folks with the supposed high costs of congestion and to build support for more highway and road expansion. It's about an idealized world for cars, not about mobility of people.

A civilian precis of the TTI study in the paper last month

Over at the City Observatory there's a compendium of criticism from multiple sources (and more here). It is symptomatic of the commitment to hydraulic autoism at SKATS that "findings" on congestion have not been modified in light of this large body of counter-evidence and critique.

TTI definitions from the meeting packet

But let's just look again at one part of its definitions and analytical method. It measures delay and congestion from a baseline of "free-flow speeds." However, on both highways and arterial roads, "free-flow speeds" are often 10, 20, maybe even 30mph over the posted speed limit! These "free-flow speeds" are measured at night, when such zooming is especially easy. So the whole study is based on a fantasy standard of impossible and even unlawful conditions. And they know this. They say "Other speed thresholds may be appropriate for urban project evaluations or sub-region studies."

Anyway, above and beyond this the study is a bunch of hooey and horse-pucky, and only an agency committed to hydraulic autoism would waste time with an uncritical presentation of it.

(Much more useful would have been a critique of it!)

Local MPO meets Today

The Policy Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets today, Tuesday the 28th, and while there are no action items of particular interest, there are a couple of informational ones that are of interest. (Agenda and packet here.)

The one of largest and most immediate impact is probably the update on the 2018-2021 State funding program, the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

The Oregon Transportation Commission and staff have been working on this, and they appear to have landed on a set of buckets for funding:

This "scenario C" would devote $50 million to the highway system itself, and then make two buckets of $30 million and $6 million much more flexibly allocated with possibilities for bike-oriented projects.

Locally, in Region 2 we would be looking at a total of about $11 million.

Applications would be coordinated with the ConnectOregon VI process in hopes that funding might also be coordinated in more strategic ways.

That makes for a new application deadline in November of this year.

ODOT Announces "Enhance it" Federal Funding Cycle for 2018-21

The Department of Transportation send out news this week about the timeline and instructions for an important Federal funding cycle of 2018-2021.

Sheila Lyons, our statewide Bike/Ped Program Manager, notes that

This is for the next round of ODOT’s STIP capital funding. Similar to last time, with tweaks. Note that pedestrian and bicycle projects are STILL ELIGIBLE projects. TAP, OBPAC Grants, Safe Routes to School, Scenic Byway funds have all migrated to this process.

I think this is the most meaningful chunk of funding for bike/ped projects and many of the programs that have been separated out are now brought together in one process. At least in theory this will better coordinate and leverage efforts that had been perhaps more fragmented.

So if you wanted an additional positive note for your City Councilor as they consider "Council Goals," asking the City of Salem to compile a robust slate of strong applications for this funding would be a good ask!

Push the City for quality and quantity!

Apps due Monday, August 3rd
(from the Review Process

Applications are due Monday, August 3rd, and the official process envisions significant consultation between local agencies and ODOT.

These applications are for Federal funds, so one interesting thing is that it looks like we have no idea actually how much money will be available, since the Highway Trust Fund is busted right now.

Evaluated for ROI and Multi-modality
(from the Application Instructions

Among the criteria for the program are "greatest benefits in relation to costs," and bike/ped infrastructure is a lot cheaper than that for cars, so at least in theory projects for people who walk and bike should be competitive.

The program also includes that projects "benefit the state's multimodal transportation system" and "make key connections between modes or facilities." So again, at least in rhetoric there is meaningful support for people who walk and bike.

Make a car-walk-bike connection along the RR line - 2nd Street

It looks, for example, like the increasing talk about underpass between the Edgewater district and Wallace Marine Park area could make a very strong proposal in this funding cycle. Additionally, we could fund a Union Street Bikeway and finally complete a full east-west corridor with the Union Street Railroad Bridge.

This will be something to watch over the spring and summer! The door looks open - will we push through it?