Drafter
Clerk 09/22/2010
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to a corridor-implementation plan for State Route 520 and State Route 522; implementing public transportation service improvements according to the plan; and repealing Ordinance 16843, Section 1, and Ordinance 16843, Section 2.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. 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 grant 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 ("UPA") requires the Urban Partners to expand transit capacity along SR 520 by adding ninety one-way peak period trips on bus routes operated by Metro transit and Sound Transit ("ST").
7. The UPA only provided funds for the purchase of buses and capital improvements asso...
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