(ADDED WEDNESDAY AM: Our video of SDOT director Scott Kubly’s hour-long Q/A)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
For the second time in a week, SDOT’s new director (confirmation pending) Scott Kubly was in West Seattle to answer questions – this time, from the West Seattle Transportation Coalition.
Among other things, Kubly said that one of the best ways his department can serve this area and others is to be clear about prioritization – what it can do, what it can’t do.
The 2 1/2-hour meeting ranged across a wide variety of other topics as well, including the two transportation-related measures on the November ballot, and a citizen proposal for the currently idle Terminal 5 site.
First, Kubly: After a brief introduction, he said that at any Department of Transportation, “safety’s going to be the first priority,” yet there have been five fatalities in the first three weeks he’s been on the job. “Where I come from is … wanting to protect the most vulnerable users of the transportation system. … I also think the city is growing tremendously quickly … it reminds me a lot of DC in that regard, similar sizes, similar growth rates.” Growth means the opportunity for more-walkable communities, he said, “but not without challenges … it stresses the transportation system, so what we need to do is .. how to make our transportation system work more efficiently.”
That means “giving people choices in how they get around the city.” People who walk to work, for example, have been shown in research to be the happiest people, Kubly said, but when in a car, he said, people somehow feel safe behaving aggressively, and he feels that’s because they don’t have a choice, so if they have a choice, they’ll feel happier. But he also recognizes that “most people are at one time or another going to have to drive someplace … it’s very rare that you can do everything (without driving).”
DC, he said, has more people but fewer cars than it used to have, he points out. And he talks again about options, enabling people to, for example, perhaps have one car instead of two. Regarding why people get frustrated with government services: “A lot of it comes down to choice.”
You can change your cell-phone carrier if you’re unhappy, but you can’t change your government without (physically) moving, he elaborated.
He described his new boss Mayor Ed Murray as “forward-thinking on transportation” and says that “mode wars” regarding transportation are not helpful – he hopes people can get beyond “us versus them.”
First question was from Diane Vincent, who said that signal prioritization for buses doesn’t seem to be happening, even two years after RapidRide was implemented. The answer wound up coming from Chris Arkills, a frequent WSTC attendee, and transportation adviser to King County Executive Dow Constantine. He said, “Most of them work well,” but invited Vincent to report whichever ones didn’t seem to be working so they can look into it.
Next, Delridge Neighborhoods District Council chair Mat McBride brought up communication challenges and wondered if SDOT would look into something more organized. Kubly said he would.
Another question led him to talk about “distracted movement” – people seeming to be distracted all the time, looking at their phones, etc. He mentioned a recent visit to North Delridge and suddenly taking note of a semi full of steel in the Nucor area – a semi “that wasn’t looking for me … If I hadn’t looked up from my phone, I probably would have been run over. Whose fault would it have been? Me for not looking up? Him for not looking for me? … In the end, we all need to … move defensively, be responsible for ourselves, and assume we have to be responsible for other people.” That led him to mention that features that try to make the road safer might not look at first glance like they make sense, but ultimately work as part of the big safety picture.
WSTC member Deb Barker from the Morgan Community Association first good-naturedly reminded Kubly that his previous city Chicago doesn’t have the same hills Seattle does. She then brought up the 35th SW safety project (scheduled to get officially kicked off at a meeting in October) and asked about getting it extended further south, into Arbor Heights, as far south as 106th. That might be a funding challenge, he suggested. Barker also wondered about making a better channel for transit where the West Seattle Bridge moves to northbound 99.
Next question was about the report that the City Council hadn’t committed to fully funding the Bicycle Master Plan in the years ahead: So how is SDOT going to go about making the plan’s safety features happen?
Kubly replied by saying Mayor Murray pointed out that there are “all sorts of different needs out there,” including sidewalks, which don’t exist in about a third of the city. It’s vital to figure out how the city is going to pay to get those needs met, and that conversation will be held over the next year, he said, while also mentioning that the city can consider “some quick things to do right now” – perhaps things that can be done while paving is happening on a street, for example.
Co-chair Helmick then mentioned SW Roxbury, which also has a safety project in the works, and hopes that it will get a closer look in terms of what it’s slated for in the Bicycle Master Plan.
Next, Taylor-Judd mentioned the West Seattle Bridge. “We’ve been repeatedly bringing up concerns that we feel like there’s not a clear plan for how the city handles crisis situations that affect access to that vital corridor … we’re looking at maybe four, five incidents this year that have shut down access to the bridge one way or another, affecting tens of thousands of people … That’s something that we see as a priority, being really clear, what is the clear chain of command (for decisionmaking in an emergency) …” Kubly said he had just met with Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole today to talk about transportation matters and plans to meet again soon, with monthly meetings in the works. He said O’Toole is “amazing,” and he mentioned that he is acutely aware of the June 10th incident that shut down the entire Highway 99 corridor.
He says things are changing – this morning he got a 4 am text about the southbound Battery Street Tunnel crash that affected a lane on SB 99, and that led to a news release being issued, etc. (Here’s the tweet that was part of it – we were still on duty and retweeted it:)
One S/B lane of the Alaskan Wy to be closed for morning commute S of Batt St tunnel. @seattledot inspecting structure after collision.
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) September 9, 2014
Helmick mentioned shortly afterward that West Seattle is “100,000 strong and we get angry fast.”
Road hazards and deficiencies were mentioned; Kubly asked what’s used to report problems, and the Find It Fix It app was mentioned. He went on to observe that often streets are cut up for utility work, among other things, and if there is a problem, make sure SDOT knows about it.
Brought up next: Making sure that Avalon is made more safe for bicyclists, especially in connection with the Fauntleroy Boulevard project.
After that: WSTC board member Marty Westerman from the Fauntleroy Community Association said they’re hoping to invite Kubly to an upcoming meeting. Then he voiced concerns, including support for the full West Seattle Bridge bus lane that Barker had suggested, beyond the partial lane that exists now and leaves buses eventually in a bottleneck during times of heavy traffic.
Coordination between departments came up; in addition to SPD, Kubly said he’s setting up monthly meetings with other departments’ leadership.
Board member Marci Carpenter mentioned the deficiencies in traffic studies done for some major projects – 3210 California, for example, was done when school was out, and so, she felt, the report did not fully address the conditions that would be created.
Helmick then launches the topic of the Westwood/Roxhill Park transit hub. “When they dumped the buses there, they did nothing to upgrade facilities,” she began. “Many more things need to be done … so I’m wondering about the conversation between Metro and SDOT regarding (that hub).” She listed challenges including the roads that are rattled by buses they aren’t designed to handle.
Kubly said Rasmussen pointed it out during their recent West Seattle tour and that it’s something he will “take a look at. … A lot of stuff has come up tonight and I would be (remiss) to say everything can be fixed, but it’s a matter of prioritization … being transparent and honest,” saying what SDOT can do and what it can’t do. “There are things we can do. Striping crosswalks, for example, is cheap.”
Rodman told Kubly to ask his staff to be “more proactive … (so you don’t need) Amanda to come to you to point out a problem.”
His appearance could probably have gone on for another hour but the meeting was already running long and one other item was on the agenda:
TERMINAL 5 PROPOSAL: In a discussion that has some of its roots in a WSB comments discussion, community member Tom Linde explained “A (Modest) Mobility Proposal.” The setup: “The peninsula has an ingress/egress issue … Metro is underfunded and likely to continue to underserve our community …Sound Transit Light Rail is at best 15 years out … ” His proposal: Could T-5 in its transition period be “used as a multimodal transit hub for West Seattle”? And that really does mean multimodal – all the way to the Water Taxi perhaps arriving and leaving from the north end (with other water shuttles too). It could make sense regarding expediency and cost savings, Linde said, and wouldn’t get in the way of future Link light rail, or the port’s eventual modernization plans. “In the end of the day, it’s a chunk of property, but might be more effectively used” than the way it’s being used now (including outright idleness while the port revs up its modernization plan). Linde suggested it could involve a “true Bus Rapid Transit system” with elevated ramps tying into the downtown network; it could be “the hub Metro station,” fed by shuttle buses as well as direct bus runs.
He acknowledged “the big ‘ifs’,” including the various agencies that would be involved, and other logistic points.
Chas Redmond asked the big question – so how can this be advanced? He saw “a positive reason” to work with the Port on the idea.
Taylor-Judd said his interest was piqued by portions of the area that could be used at least for park-and-ride now, for example – even if the grand vision would be difficult to implement, parts of it could become reality.
Arkills mentioned past challenges with development of that area and the Port’s past attempts, including the fact that it had been a landfill, which might even get in the way of building a park-and-ride there. He agreed that this is an underused parcel of land but cautioned that doing something with it might not be so easy.
“Nothing ever is,” countered Helmick.
Arkills also noted that the county, for example, doesn’t have any money to put into something like this, so a creative funding solution would have to be found.
Ultimately, the question was, what becomes of this idea now that it’s been aired? Linde said he didn’t care about keeping ownership of it, but just wanted to get it out there. This, all agreed, was a start. Helmick said she’d like to see an organized subgroup take it on. Taylor-Judd agreed that finding a way to hash it out would be good.
Finally, a port rep who came to the meeting after hearing about this informal discussion talked about the stage the process is in toward modernizing T-5. $5 million has been allotted; the full project would be “probably a couple hundred million,” he said, but they hope to have it reopen in 2018, “so that’s not so far away.” He said toward Linde, “I don’t want to say your idea is not compatible with that.” He expressed some openness toward talking with the community about ways to help get people around.
So how will that be funded? asked Barker. “Couple possible ways,” said the port rep. For one, they might reach an agreement with an entity – shipping line or stevedore – signing a long-term lease, and then the Port goes out with bonds or other borrowing to finance the improvements, which are repaid from revenue from the terminal.
‘YES ON SEATTLE TRANSIT’: WSTC members heard from Abigail Doerr from the Transportation Benefit District Proposition (see the text here) “to preserve the transit system we need in our city,” specifically Seattle Metro routes “that are slated to be reduced in February 2015.” It’s the same funding package that was rejected countywide (though a majority of Seattle voters approved it) last year – a sales-tax increase plus car-tab fee; if approved, it would last for six years, she said. “It’s a measure that’s intended to be a fix for now … not the ideal situation for how we want to be funding our transit .. but it allows us a great opportunity to have a conversation with statewide legislators, other communities,” and others, regarding a “stable funding source” for transportation.
Up to $2 million of the money raised would be spent on a “low-income accessibility program,” she pointed out; up to $3 million would go toward a “regional partnership fund,” which could involve other government entities buying back part of their cut routes. And there would be a rebate toward the car-tab fee for low-income vehicle owners. “We want to be moving forward on transit, not backward – we want to keep our buses running,” she added. Many details remain to be worked out, including which other governments, if any, would join in the regional partnership, she said, in response to questions.
King County – which runs the bus system – is officially neutral on the measure, noted Arkills.
WSTC member Marci Carpenter proposed that the coalition endorse the ballot measure. A few voices rose in dissent/concern, including McBride, who pointed out that WSTC represents various community groups, and shouldn’t endorse something without consulting those constituent groups. WSTC co-chair Amanda Kay Helmick said she felt they had time to do that, since the vote isn’t until November. Member Michael Taylor-Judd from North Delridge Neighborhood Council noted that other alternative funding sources had been suggested before the ballot measure was finalized. (The WSTC, you might recall, took a poll on which sources people might prefer to see used.)
A vote was taken; board members deadlocked 3-3 on whether to endorse, and decide to take it up again later in the meeting. When that happened, Taylor-Judd moved to have WSTC members contact their respective organizations to see if they do or don’t support endorsing the measure. It was decided that he and Carpenter would draft a letter that would be taken to those reps for their consideration.
MONORAIL PROPOSAL: Former West Seattleite Libby Carr was an addition to the agenda. She is campaign chair for the monorail measure that will also be on this November’s Seattle ballot. (See the text of the measure here.) She mentioned the city’s multiple previous votes on a monorail, and noted, “Some people feel ‘It’s ten years later, we’re still sitting in traffic, how’s that working for us, maybe it’s time to revisit this.”
COMMUNITY NEWS/UPDATES: Co-chair Amanda Kay Helmick brought up tomorrow’s special City Council Transportation Committee meeting about impact fees (reported here earlier today), noon at City Hall. WSTC member Deb Barker mentions the July briefing about the Fauntleroy Boulevard project (updated here) and the first meeting, two weeks ago, of the West Seattle Land Use Committee (WSB coverage here). Delridge District Council chair McBride, who was part of that meeting, pointed out that such groups “gain validity with participation,” urging everyone to be at the next one. He added that his group will be hosting Kubly, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, and Port Commissioner Courtney Gregoire as a “transportation trifecta” on Wednesday, September 17th, 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.
Continuing the updates, Taylor-Judd from North Delridge mentioned new “speed humps” on a route between ND and High Point, and the neighborhood-policing plan that NDNC is working on with Seattle Police. He also mentioned bumping into Rasmussen in North Delridge recently as the councilmember was preparing to meet with Kubly for a briefing about the neighborhood.
The West Seattle Transportation Coalition meets on second Tuesdays, 6:30 pm, at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center.
P.S. SDOT director Kubly is also scheduled at next Wednesday’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, 7 pm September 17th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).
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