Mayor John Marchione is living up to one of his goals for Redmond - "becoming a regional leader". Several months ago, Mr. Marchione and his Council met with the City of Sammamish. Mostly, they talked about developing a Park in northern Lake Sammamish from a patchwork of land owed by Redmond in cooperation with the City of Sammamish. Then, on January 27, John Marchione and Council invited the City of Woodinville officials to Redmond city hall to discuss economic development, tourism, transportation alternatives and of greatest interest, the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) rail corridor,
Woodinville's Mayor Scott Hagerman and his Council are profiled here (click here to read their biographies.) Woodinville has a "council form" of government where they hire a city manager and their Mayor is appointed by Council. We elect our Mayor directly.
Woodinville Councilmembers Chuck Price, Jeff Glickman, and Hank Stecker had the most to say about transportation. Two transportation corridors reviewed were: 1) The Willows Extension to 522 and 2) The Avondale "Eastside Loop". Mr. Price insisted the 522 interchange flyover project must be complete before Willows Road is extended. McCormick warned traffic could be drawn off of 405 onto a Willows Extension. I hope we can work with Woodinville and the State to build that 522 interchange pronto. Red-Wood Road has bottlenecks and can't carry growing traffic loads much longer. A Roundabout on RED-WOOD Road by Hollywood Hills is planned and may help some.
While we await construction of the 522 interchange (PSRC) I sincerely hope Redmond can cooperate with Woodinville for their tourism needs in the Willows corridor. As Mayor Marchione said, both cities can partner by "showcasing our strengths" and "build together vs. steal together." A Willows Road extension built for compatibility with tourism and convenient to Redmond hotels is a win-win. I often drive my out-or-town guests down the green valley corridor to Woodiville.
Councilman Stecker, brought up the idea of an "Eastside Loop". Avondale would need to be expanded to four lanes from NE116 to Wood-Duval Road. "Backroads" would have to be build-out through Paradise Valley Road to a major Maltby interchange. My two cents: an alternative to Paradise Valley Road is probably necessary. The County needs to work with cities to widen Wood-Duval.
It appeared the the BNSF corridor decisions to remove or keep the rails were made before the meeting started. Woodinville wants the rails, Redmond wants them removed. Mr. Cole threw out a caveat that once the rails are removed they will never come back. He also, said there are still wide discrepancies in cost and usage estimates (see next post). Nancy McCormick referenced an un-named study claiming the best use for the rails was "scrap metal". Glickman stated it costs much less money to reuse the track and lease light-weight cars. Mayor Marchione likened the rails to a knife in the heart of downtown.
I remember as a salesman in Oregon seeing the Portland East-West Connector Street
Car being built decades ago. The roads were torn up forever. Mr. Glickman noted that while it was being built fear of cost over-runs and under-use raged. According to Glickman, it paid for itself in 6 months.
Though Redmond and Woodinville have understandable differences about the BNSF Trailway Corridor both cities emphasised they have many good reasons (including state funding) to work together. Mayor Marchione suggesting developing a "Corridor Vision" story to present to the State - not just focusing on "projects". Stickler talked about a long range state plan to build a business arteriole that parallels 405 from Woodinville, Bothell, to Everett and Snohomish County. Deputy Mayor Vogt and Councilmember Price summed up the meeting looking forward to future talks to coordinate multi-jurisdictional efforts. I am pleased Mr. Marchione is working with our neighboring cities. Do you have any comments?
Sound Transit/PSRC Burlington Northern Santa Fe Feasibility Report, 1/30/09, contributed by Councilmember Richard Cole.
Well this is very interesting. My dear wife drives from Education Hill thru Hollywood Corner to Woodinville for her daily commute. Hundreds of Woodinville commuters are heading down to Redmond to go to work. Fortunately, she is a "reverse commuter" since fewer folks travel from Redmond to Woodinville. Every day, the traffic across the 124th Ave valley is impressive. Thousands of commuters cross the Samm Valley to get onto 405. Anyone living in or near English Hills is challenged by the inadequate, narrow road going East to Avondale, or West to the Redmond-Woodinville Rd. Talk to Soccer moms driving school kids to the Northshore School District. This is suburban living in commuter hell.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should recall that Redmond has a daily major traffic challenge. The millions of "square feet" of office space in Redmond is filled to capacity every day with eager commuters. Ever try to move thru downtown Redmond at high noon. Forget it!
Thus, the roadway needs of Woodinville and Redmond are vastly different. I imagine this issue will stall because Woodinville's vision and Redmond's vision are, like night and day. And then King County will need to contribute something to new and expanded roads. King County and the State are strapped for cash these days, so I cannot see much movement on these "visions".
The idea of installing a traffic circle at Hollywood is appealing because the traffic backs up. King County has allowed more density at this location, but the narrow roadway remains a major deadlock. The traffic will only get worse with the addition of the Woodinville Village - a mixed use retail and residence project. Parts of the project are dormant because of our recent econo-meltdown.
But this kind of development follows a familiar pattern in King County. Build homes, and corner shops first, then, years later the roadway might get expanded. So much for planned communities!
I am not sure what is meant by the 522 interchange flyover project?
ReplyDeleteAt one time, this was a project near Bothell and the University of Washington (Bothell campus):
Build a new south entrance to the UW Bothell and Cascadia Community College, add signals,add an exit lane, and build a new bridge over the campus access street.Complete: winter 2010