Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Your feedback about road projects
Late Friday update: Since I posted this earlier in the week, I've learned that the road projects will be discussed at the Lakewood City Council study session this Monday. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at Lakewood City Hall. There will also be a formal hearing later in July.
Monday's hearing should be interesting. Staff and our volunteer traffic commission will report that roads are deteriorating and many other needs are unmet. Among their suggestions of alternatives: starting a traffic impact fee on new development, charging people $20 to renew their car tabs and charging a utility tax.
Monday's hearing should thus be pretty interesting. It is always interesting to hear people propose new taxes for Lakewood. Stay tuned. Anyway, I think the rest of the posting stands as is, and the link below will take you to a chart of proposed road projects. I'll let you know what details come out of the Monday meeting, or of course you are welcome to come by.
I have a bit of a tradition in this newsletter, where I publish a list of proposed road projects and ask for feedback. Generally, to be just very candid, this topic does not get a lot of feedback. It's funny, because when you talk to people, the question of traffic in their neighborhood is usually a pretty high priority. But there is something about the Internet, maybe, that discourages people from browsing through a long list for projects for any of interest to them.
I thought what I would do this year is provide a PDF of the various proposed projects and see if anyone is interested in downloading it and sharing thoughts. I'll let you know when the city will have a formal hearing about the projects. I will also have a copy of the document at my SummerFEST booth, and will share it to anyone willing to stand there and listen.
Most of these projects are tentative; the ideas come from city staff and the traffic advisory commission that is made up of other citizens. So feedback is both welcome and useful. One thing that's a bit confusing about the charts themselves is that they don't explicitly tell you when the construction might take place. You have to do the calculation yourself, based on when the project is listed as funded.
Here's how to figure that out: The charts often list a project as being funded over multiple years, as funds are accumulated. In general, it means the project is meant to be built in the year that shows the last bit of funding. So, for example, the very first entry shows the city accumulating funds in both 2011 and 2012 to widen Gravelly Lake from Nyanza to I-5 for a dedicated right turn lane. (The lane would serve all those people driving to Olympia to ask for part of the state budget surplus!) Since this means the last funding would come in during 2012, it means the construction would actually take place in 2012.
But again, all this is tentative and open for discussion. If you have time, browse the file and let me know if you think we have the right projects on the list.
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Monday's hearing should be interesting. Staff and our volunteer traffic commission will report that roads are deteriorating and many other needs are unmet. Among their suggestions of alternatives: starting a traffic impact fee on new development, charging people $20 to renew their car tabs and charging a utility tax.
Monday's hearing should thus be pretty interesting. It is always interesting to hear people propose new taxes for Lakewood. Stay tuned. Anyway, I think the rest of the posting stands as is, and the link below will take you to a chart of proposed road projects. I'll let you know what details come out of the Monday meeting, or of course you are welcome to come by.
I have a bit of a tradition in this newsletter, where I publish a list of proposed road projects and ask for feedback. Generally, to be just very candid, this topic does not get a lot of feedback. It's funny, because when you talk to people, the question of traffic in their neighborhood is usually a pretty high priority. But there is something about the Internet, maybe, that discourages people from browsing through a long list for projects for any of interest to them.
I thought what I would do this year is provide a PDF of the various proposed projects and see if anyone is interested in downloading it and sharing thoughts. I'll let you know when the city will have a formal hearing about the projects. I will also have a copy of the document at my SummerFEST booth, and will share it to anyone willing to stand there and listen.
Most of these projects are tentative; the ideas come from city staff and the traffic advisory commission that is made up of other citizens. So feedback is both welcome and useful. One thing that's a bit confusing about the charts themselves is that they don't explicitly tell you when the construction might take place. You have to do the calculation yourself, based on when the project is listed as funded.
Here's how to figure that out: The charts often list a project as being funded over multiple years, as funds are accumulated. In general, it means the project is meant to be built in the year that shows the last bit of funding. So, for example, the very first entry shows the city accumulating funds in both 2011 and 2012 to widen Gravelly Lake from Nyanza to I-5 for a dedicated right turn lane. (The lane would serve all those people driving to Olympia to ask for part of the state budget surplus!) Since this means the last funding would come in during 2012, it means the construction would actually take place in 2012.
But again, all this is tentative and open for discussion. If you have time, browse the file and let me know if you think we have the right projects on the list.
