Drafter
Clerk 05/13/2010
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AN ORDINANCE relating to a corridor-implementation plan for State Route 520 and State Route 522 in accordance with Ordinance 16717, Section 131, Proviso P5, as amended, and implementing the October 2010 and February 2011 public transportation service improvements according to the plan.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. The United States Department of Transportation ("USDOT") issued a Federal Register Notice soliciting metropolitan areas to apply for Urban Partnership status by April 30, 2007, promising designated areas would receive priority consideration for available federal discretionary funds to implement aggressive congestion-relief programs.
2. In 2007, King County, the Puget Sound Regional Council ("PSRC") and the Washington State Department of Transportation ("WSDOT") submitted an application for Urban Partnership status to USDOT.
3. King County, WSDOT and PSRC submitted the Lake Washington Urban Partnership proposal to implement aggressive congestion-relief programs on the State Route ("SR") 520 corridor, one of the most congested corridors in the central Puget Sound Region that included variable tolling.
4. Toll revenues were needed to complete a funding package to replace the SR 520 floating bridge that is vulnerable to catastrophic failure from seismic or storm events.
5. In 2007, the Seattle area received Urban Partnership status from USDOT and was awarded a $139 million from federal discretionary funds to implement the four Ts -- tolling, technology, transit, and telecommuting strategies -- to reduce congestion in the SR 520 corridor.
6. Implementation of variable tolling on SR 520 would increase the demand for transit service in the SR 520 corridor, and the Urban Partnership Agreement requires the Urban Partners to expand transit capacity along SR 520 by adding ninety one-way peak period trips on core and other supporting bus routes operated by Metro Transit and Sound Transit ("ST").
7. The Urban Partnership Agreement only provided funds for the purchase of buses and capital improvements associated with the Lake Washington Urban Partnership.
8. In 2009, recognizing the need for additional funding to support the operations, maintenance and capital needs of public transportation, the state legislature authorized King County to implement an additional regular property tax levy not to exceed seven and one-half cents per one-thousand dollars with the first cent required to expand transit capacity in the SR 520 corridor.
9. In 2009, Ordinance 16734 was passed by the King County council, enacting the property tax for public transportation, levying six and one-half cents per thousand dollars of assessed value to fund transit-related expenses and meet the Urban Partnership Agreement commitments of providing enhanced service on the SR 520 corridor.
10. Ordinance 16717, Section 131, Proviso P5, as amended, required a corridor service implementation plan be delivered by April 30, 2010, for adoption by ordinance and shall:
a. Be developed cooperatively with ST and WSDOT to address peak and all day service changes consistent with the SR 520 Urban Partnership Agreement and the SR 520 Tolling Implementation Committee Recommendations;
b. Be integrated with ST's bus service and WSDOT's tolling and traffic management investments;
c. Include at least twenty-eight thousand hours of core SR 520 bus service;
d. Consider transit service-related mitigation needs for SR 520, I-90 and SR 522; and
e. Include up to five thousand annual bus service hours supporting the core SR 522 bus service to mitigate the impacts of diversionary trips onto SR 522.
11. WSDOT, in April 2010, identified a preferred alternative design for the I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV project that will have impacts on the operation of transit services in and approaching SR 520.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. A. The council acknowledges transmittal of the State Route 520 and State Route 522 Service Implementation Plan required by Ordinance 16717, Section 131, Proviso P5, as amended, in Attachment A to this ordinance.
B. The executive is directed to conduct additional review and analysis of the State Route 520 and State Route 522 Service Implementation Plan to further consider revenue and cost implications of emerging State Route 520 issues including the operational cost implications of the Washington State Department of Transportation Preferred Alternative for State Route 520 and revenue forecast issues associated with the additional regular property tax for public transportation authorized in RCW 84.52.140.
A revised State Route 520 and State Route 522 Service Implementation Plan should be transmitted by July 31, 2010to the King County council for adoption by ordinance.
SECTION 2. The State Route 520 and State Route 522 Service Implementation Plan public transportation service improvements for October 2010 and February 2011 for
King County, substantially as described in Attachment B to this ordinance, are hereby adopted.