The Southeast Redmond area — which includes the terminus of SR 520 at the intersection of Avondale and Union Hill Roads — can be torturous to traverse during weekday commute times.
City of Redmond planners are honing in on ways to improve the area’s mobility in the near and distant futures.
Wednesday night at Redmond City Hall, a second public meeting about the Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation Study gave citizens a chance to see and hear about “”the universe of improvement ideas collected from stakeholders … (and) the evaluation of all the improvement ideas by various criteria such as general traffic benefit, freight mobility, environment, safety, HOV and so on,” said project manager Lei Wu.
Through earlier communications with area residents and business owners, as well as regional entities Sound Transit, DOT (Department of Transportation) and King County, a variety of ideas to streamline traffic, enhance walkability and encourage use of public transit have been gathered and researched.
Not every idea can be implemented immediately, so the purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to help community members understand the pros and cons of each project and to rank them in order of desirability.
City staff members manned displays in the lobby of City Hall, before and after a PowerPoint presentation and question and answer period with Wu, City of Redmond transportation manager Don Cairns and project consultant Kris Liljeblad.
Wu told guests in the City Council Chambers she’s heard many complaints about “sitting in long traffic queues and not having enough access to reliable transit.”
Liljeblad agreed, “We have an immature road system for the volume of current traffic and potential HOV uses.”
The study is not just focused on current transportation issues, but scenarios that are likely in or before 2030.
For example, the study team mentioned an assumption that Sound Transit Light Link Rail will be built on the western edge of the study area (downtown). But how would riders get to the light rail stations? Where would they park their cars or how would they cross busy streets on foot or a bike?
Solutions might include the following:
• Adding HOV lanes and bus pull-out sections along Avondale Road would greatly increase traffic flow during peak travel times.
• A flyover ramp at Avondale Road and Union Hill Road could also ease congestion at the bottleneck which occurs when drivers are waiting to get on or off SR 520.
• A complete and connected pedestrian network is needed for the use of future light rail and getting to/from shopping and public buildings between downtown Redmond and the Southeast Redmond area.
• Another Park and Ride lot along Novelty Hill Road or Union Hill Road could intercept some traffic before entering the City of Redmond.
Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting were asked to fill out comment cards and place green, yellow or red dots next to project descriptions.
A green dot essentially meant the same as what it does in a traffic signal: “Go.” In other words, these were the projects seen as the most logical and important.
Yellow dots meant “Maybe” and red dots meant “No.” Either these projects appeared to offer less benefit or would probably be too costly to implement.
At this time, exact dollar figures for each project have not been calculated. It’s too early in the process to have that information. But city planners provided rough estimates of cost, showing “$” for “less than $1 million,” “$$” for “$1 million to $10 million” and “$$$” for “over $10 million.”
More public outreach will be conducted this fall. A draft report for the Greater Southeast Redmond Area Transportation plan is expected to be completed in November and finalized in December.
Details can be viewed online.
Comments and questions should be directed to Lei Wu at lwu@redmond.gov or (425) 556-2749.
