Ordinance 3454-15 with Exhibits A- C

EVERETT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WHY NOT REQUIRE LOS D OR BETTER OPERATIONS EVERYWHERE? A key question that often comes up is why the City's Transportation Element would reduce the LOS standard in some places. The answers aren't simple. While the City is committed to mobility for all, there are practical considerations related to: • Cost: Maintaining LOS D operations would require tens of millions of dollars in additional capital investment along busy corridors. Recognizing that this plan's project list is already at the limits the city can reasonably afford over the next 20 years, achieving LOS D in these locations would be unaffordable. • Right of way: Even if the City could find the funds to improve all corridors and intersections to LOS D standards, there would be substantial right of way impacts. This would require widening projects that would take property frontage, eliminate tree coverage, and require significant modifications to intersections in downtown. • Other modes: Similar to the right of way discussion, building the roadway network to provide LOS D conditions during the peak hour would require substantial widening, which would impact how people experience walking and biking in Everett. Additional traffic lanes mean longer pedestrian crossing distances, less tree cover, and a higher stress bicycle network. Growth Management Act requirements: The State's concurrency requirement means that the City must be able to maintain its stated LOS policy in order to allow for development. Setting an LOS standard that is unrealistic for the above reasons puts Everett in jeopardy of being able to permit development, even within the its growth centers, which are intended to provide a more walkable, bike -able, transit accessible option for living and working in Snohomish County. TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT 52