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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19th St - TSP - Staff ReportDeschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org AGENDA REQUEST & STAFF REPORT For Board Business Meeting of April 19, 2010 Please see directions for completing this document on the next page. DATE: April 12, 2010 FROM: Peter Russell CDD 383-6718 TITLE OF AGENDA ITEM: Board deliberations on PA -09-02, whether to add 19th Street to the Deschutes County Transportation System Plan (TSP) map and consideration of first reading of Ordinance 2010-007 Amending Deschutes County Code Title 23.64 and 23.120 Amending the Transportation System Plan Map to Add 19th Street, a Future Rural Arterial, between Redmond and Deschutes Junction While Excepting Land from. Statewide Planning Goal 3. PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS DATE? NO BACKGROUND AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS: The Board held a public hearing on Feb. 22, 2010, closing the oral record that night and keeping the written record open until 5 p.m., March 12. At the Feb. 22 public hearing, the Board set an April 19 date for deliberation. Approving PA -09-2 would result in 19`h Street, a Future Rural Arterial, being placed on the TSP map on the east side of the Burlington Northeren Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad tracks between the City of Redmond and Deschutes Junction. A denial would mean the TSP map would remain unchanged. FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None as PA -09-2 only adds a line to the TSP map. However, without 19th Street appearing on an adopted TSP map, it is nearly impossible to successfully compete for federal or state funds to construct the road. Also the county could not require mitigation as properties develop in the area. RECOMMENDATION & ACTION REQUESTED: Staff recommends the Board approve PA -09-2 as submitted for the proposed alignment of 19th Street and the Chair conduct the first reading by title only of Ordinance 2010-007. ATTENDANCE: Peter Russell and Tom Blust. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS: Copies to Tom Blust and Peter Russell. Community Development Department Planning Division Building Safety Division Environmental Health Division 117 NW Lafayette Avenue Bend Oregon 97701-1925 (541)388-6575 FAX (541)385-1764 http://www.co.deschutes.or.us/cdd/ TO: Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners FROM: Peter Russell, Senior Transportation Planner DATE: March 12, 2010 SUBJECT: Response to issues raised at and after the February 22, 2010, public hearing on PA -09-2 to add 19th Street to the Transportation System Plan (TSP) map BACKGROUND During the Feb. 22, 2010, public hearing citizens raised several issues about 19th Street. In no particular order of importance the main topics were 1) 19th Street is a solution to a City of Redmond traffic problem; 2) 19th Street could lead to fragmentation of federal lands and thus make them ripe for land swaps and subsequent development; 3) concerns about the public process which led to 19th Street's emergence as a transportation solution; 4) County has not sufficiently demonstrated a need for Goal 3 (Agriculture) exception; 5) how will the County pay to maintain the road; 6) building 19th Street to a Quarry/97 interchange is a better solution; and 7) concerns about the adverse effect of increased traffic on rural residential neighborhoods. Staff's response to these subjects is provided below. 1. 19th Street is a solution to a Redmond problem This future rural arterial will ultimately provide relief for the Yew Avenue/U.S. 97 interchange at the south end of Redmond. However, that is not the sole benefit of 19th Street. The future 19th Street provides alternate access to two critical regional draws: the Deschutes County Fairgrounds and the Redmond Airport. While both of these attractors are located in Redmond, they draw traffic from throughout the County so 19th Street would offer an alternative for patrons traveling to/from northeast Bend. Access to the commercial flights out of Redmond and access to the fairgrounds are of countywide concern. Additionally, there is a significant amount of commuting traffic between Bend and Redmond. 19th Street could provide another route for those traveling between Bend and Redmond for work, particularly those commuters with an origin or destination in either northeast Bend or in Redmond east of U.S. 97. Thus, 19th Street serves as a transportation solution to a regional issue, not just a City of Redmond problem. 2. 19th Street could fragment public lands, making them ripe for development The Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan (UDRMP) is the controlling document for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holdings for 400,000 acres. The UDRMP has policies that state repeatedly — with the exception of the approximately 935 acres designated as Quality Services Performed with Pride Community Expansion lands which were targeted for transfer to the Department of State Lands (DSL) — that the BLM land is meant to remain in federal stewardship. On page 24, the UDRMP sets its Land Use Goal: "Manage the land in a manner that recognizes the nation's need for domestic sources of minerals, food, timber, and fiber from public lands, while protecting the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, environmental, and archeological values. Preserve and protect public lands in their natural condition, and assure they provide, where appropriate, food and habitat for fish, wildlife and domestic animals, and land for outdoor recreation and other uses." (emphasis added) On page 26, the UDRMP sets its Land Ownership Goal: "Retain public lands in federal ownership, unless disposal or acquisition of a particular parcel would better serve the national interest and the needs of state and local people, including the needs for lands for the economy, community expansion, recreation areas, food, fiber, minerals, and fish and wildlife." (emphasis added) On page 135-136, the UDRMP sets its guidelines for Transportation and Utilities. The relevant objective and guidelines are: Objective TU — 1 "Provide new or modified rights-of-way for transportation/utility corridors and communication energy sites to meet expected demands and minimize environmental impacts." (emphasis added) Guidelines for TU — 1: #3 "Applicants are expected to locate new facilities adjacent to existing facilities to the extent technically and economically feasible and meet resource objectives." (emphasis added) #6 "Each right of way will be limited to the area necessary for operation and maintenance. The project will consider the protection of public safety and will do no unnecessary damage to the environment." (emphasis added) #9 "Locate and design new rights-of-way to minimize fragmentation of public lands, and only construct new projects when the use of existing alignments will have substantially less desirable environmental impacts than new construction." (emphasis added) Cleary, the BLM intends to keep the remaining acreage under federal purview and in its natural state; the BLM does not intend to allow development. The BLM clearly seeks to minimize the physical disruption of federal land by future transportation projects by requiring a road to have the smallest footprint possible. 19th Street, by being adjacent to the existing BNSF right of way, will lie on the far edge of large parcels, ensuring public land will not be fragmented and that any agricultural practices on private lands will be as undisturbed as possible. Finally, even if the BLM did a land exchange to place some acreage in private hands, the land's zoning would revert to the County's zoning designation. That zoning is Exclusive Farm Use (EFU), which limits land uses to agricultural or agriculturally related activities, preventing commercial or industrial development. In conclusion, placing 19th Street on the TSP map will not foster land fragmentation of BLM holdings, which means it's unlikely the lands will be exchanged. Even if that happened, County zoning precludes commercial or industrial development. 3. Process to select a future 19th Street corridor was not public The UDRMP was done under the federal planning process and in compliance with the public outreach requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The UDRMP is in fact an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and has a Record of Decision (ROD). The NEPA process that resulted in the UDRMP being published in Sept. 2005 had numerous public meetings. The UDRMP also had a public appeal process, which no one utilized. On page 11 of the UDRMP the document recaps that public process. "The planning process has followed the direction of The National Environmental Policy Act, The Federal Land Policy and Management Act, as amended, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., and the more detailed BLM Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook 1601-1). The emphasis of the process has been to provide an open, inclusive forum for the discovery and discussion of the important issues within the planning area. Scoping for this plan revision covered a period of 10 years and culminated in the publication of Analysis of the Management Situation in October 2001. The AMS, coupled with subsequent public meetings, served as another scoping period as over 100 new comment letters were received by BLM in response to these events. Over this period new information that is relevant to the planning process was generated both locally and throughout the northwest." (emphasis added). Essentially, the public process began in earnest in October 2001 with the publication of the AMS. A public comment period, with publication of meeting times, dates, and locations in local newspapers, then began in 2001 with public meetings in Redmond on Oct. 16; Prineville, Oct. 17; and La Pine, Oct. 18. After the draft EIS/RMP was published in October 2003 another round of publicized public meetings was held in La Pine (Nov. 12); Prineville (Nov. 18); Redmond (Nov. 19); and Bend (Nov. 20). The public comment period was extended to Jan. 15, 2004, and BLM received 1,360 responses. The public had ample opportunity to comment in the BLM process and did so. 4. County has not satisfied the Goal 3 (Agriculture) exceptions process There are two broad tests to be met regarding an exception to statewide planning goals: 1) can the facility be built on lands that do not require a goal exception and 2) if no, can the facility be built on other lands that also require a goal exception. The goal exception is only required for non-federal lands; federal lands are exempt from the Oregon planning process. As stated in the burden of proof, 19th Street needs to be east of the BNSF tracks to avoid an at - grade railroad crossing and to remove traffic from the Yew Avenue/97 interchange. The termini for 19th Street have already been determined through previous public planning processes. The street already exists as a City of Redmond road. The UDRMP determined a corridor alignment of the future 19th Street based on the existing street and the goals and policies of the UDRMP. Phase II of the Deschutes Junction interchange physically exists. Connecting a future 19th Street from Deschutes Junction to the UDRMP transportation corridor in a cost-effective manner with a route consistent with the functional goals of a rural arterial dictated 19th Street's location. There is not a reasonable alignment that can be used on non-EFU lands given the constraints identified above and the breadth of EFU zoning. The 19th Street/Deschutes Market Road corridor will link Bend and Redmond and provide access to regional attractions such as the Redmond Airport and Deschutes County Fairgrounds. Thus 19th Street's alignment is consistent with the functional goals of a rural arterial as described in 23.60.010(D), Table 1. 3 Opponents also question whether 19th Street complies with 23.64.030(1)(b)(2). The first element of that section is "Deschutes County shall not add any miles of new road to the system unless the following issues are satisfied:" PA -09-2 does not add any actual miles to the system as no road is being constructed under this land application and thus 23.64.030(1)(b)(2) does not apply. Nevertheless, staff will still address this issue and the elements of 23.64.030(1)(b)(2)(a-e). The need for 19th has been clearly stated in that there are operational challenges at Yew/97; there is no rural -scale grid system road on the east side of the BNSF tracks; the street will remove traffic from an at -grade rail crossing; and 19th Street provides a parallel local alternative to U.S. 97, which is expected to have daily traffic volumes approaching 30,000 vehicles by 2030. The Road Department has an annual budget and must demonstrate to the Board there are sufficient funds to maintain 19th Street as the Board under Resolution 2009-118, Section 4 has the discretion to accept or not accept new arterials and collectors into the County system. The road's preliminary design has complied with the construction and dimensional standards set forth in 17.48. A future 19th Street will be a necessary transportation component of land use development in Juniper Ridge, the Department of State Lands property, and the employment lands in southern and eastern Redmond. By developing a rural -scale grid system, 19th Street will increase the efficiency of the road network by providing an alternate to Old Bend -Redmond and U.S. 97 to travel between Bend and Redmond. 5. How will County pay to maintain the road? The approval of PA -09-2 merely adds a line onto a TSP map. As there is no actual construction tied to this land use application, there are no maintenance costs. Nevertheless, if the Road Department is successful in getting a conditional use permit (CUP) to build 19th Street, the Road Department will request the Board accept 19th Street into the County roadway system as allowed under BOCC Resolution 2009-118. The Board, while admittedly an unlikely action, could choose to not accept 19th Street into the County system and thus the County would have zero maintenance costs. The Board has the discretion under 2009-118, Section 4 to accept or reject new County arterials or collectors into the system of County -maintained roads. If there is not sufficient funding to maintain 19th Street, the County would not build 19th Street. The County has passed a countywide system development charge (SDC) which in turn freed up money for maintenance. The County has a pavement management system that balances the dollars required to maintain a road with the road's physical condition and classification. The County will decide how to maintain 19th Street in a systematic manner consistent with the maintenance decisions for the other 830 miles of County roads (700 paved, 130 unpaved) using the historic revenues received from gas tax, weight -mile tax, vehicle registration fees, and any federal funding. If 19th Street is constructed and accepted into the County system, the initial maintenance costs will be relatively low in the first five to seven years of the road's existence, after which the road could need a chip seal resurfacing. Long-term maintenance cost for an arterial average approximately $15,000 per mile per year over a 20 -year period. That amount includes stripping, chip sealing, grinding or milling, pavement overlays, snow plowing, etc. The six -miles of 19th Street would average $90,000 per year. Funding from the increased gas tax and vehicle registration fees will help with maintenance funding. Also, in the long-term, if the City of Redmond annexes the DSL property, then that 4 portion of the proposed 19th Street crossing the DSL property will become a City street and Redmond will maintain it. Additionally, there are ten plus miles of County collectors and arterials within the current Redmond UGB. As Redmond expands, those County roads become City facilities for Redmond to maintain. The conversion of County roads to City roads will happen in Bend, Sisters, and La Pine, reducing the overall maintenance costs for the County. The cost of maintenance for 19th St. is more than offset by reduced congestion at the Yew Avenue interchange, reduced congestion on Highway 97 and access to the airport and fairgrounds. Finally, maintenance of a future road is not an approval criterion for a map amendment. 6. Building a Quarry/97 interchange is a better solution The Deschutes County TSP does indicate a Quarry Road/97 interchange. However, that project will be three to four times more expensive than building all of 19th Street given the need for a structure across both the highway and the railroad. A Quarry Road interchange would be an ODOT project built on an ODOT timeline whereas 19th Street will be a County project built on a faster County timeline. A Quarry/97 interchange is a long term solution that given its cost and complexity will likely be built after 19th Street. Based on the travel time on U.S. 97 and the proximity of a Quarry/97 interchange to the Yew/97 interchange, it is doubtful a driver would exit 97 at Quarry to continue north on 19th. A driver would be more likely to continue on 97 to Yew as 97 is a high-speed, four -lane facility with passing opportunities versus 19th, which would be a two-lane County road. As an example, note the difference in daily traffic volumes when comparing 97 to South Canal Boulevard. In 2008, the most recent year for traffic counts on this road, South Canal Boulevard had an average daily traffic (ADT) of 3,448 at a point 0.10 miles north of SW Helmholtz and 4,910 ADT at a point 0.10 miles south of SW Helmholtz and 2,621 ADT at 0.10 miles south of 61st Street. That same year U.S. 97 at a point 0.30 miles south of Quarry had 25,800 ADT. The disparity between ADT on South Canal and 97 indicates while some drivers are traveling 97 to 61St to South Canal Boulevard to reach south and west Redmond, the numbers are not very high. As Quarry is much closer to Redmond than 61st Street, I would expect even less diversion from 97 onto 19th Due to the longer timeline to construct an interchange, the much greater cost of an interchange, and the expected few diverted trips, building a Quarry interchange before 19th Street is not a better solution. 7. 19th will lead to increased traffic for the Starwood and Boones Borough subdivisions Starwood lies on the south side of Tumalo Road, approximately a mile to the west of the Deschutes Junction interchange. The subdivision connects to Tumalo Road via Starwood Drive. 19th Street will not lead to any increased traffic in this neighborhood for two reasons. First, any pass -by traffic desiring to head north to Redmond will go east on Tumalo Road, regardless if the chosen road to go north ultimately is 97 or 19th Street. If 19th is not there, then the traffic will use 97. There will not be new traffic on Tumalo Road just because 19th Street exists. Second, Starwood is essentially a gigantic cul-de-sac. There would not be any cut - through traffic going on Starwood Drive to reach Tumalo Road to then get to le Street. Boones Borough is in a similar geographic and traffic situation as the subdivision lies to the immediate east of the Deschutes Junction/97 interchange. Pass -by traffic wishing to go north to 5 Redmond will use Deschutes Market Road to access either 97 or 19th Street. There will not be new traffic due to 19th Street's existence, but pre-existing traffic may divert onto 19th Street. Boones Borough is also a giant cul-de-sac with access to Deschutes Market Road via two points, Dale and Morrill roads. In this neighborhood — as in the Starwood case - there will be no cut -through traffic trying to reach 19th Street. Finally, both of these residential pockets access onto higher order streets that are intended to carry large volumes of traffic. Tumalo Road is a collector and Deschutes Market Road is a collector with plans to upgrade to an arterial as part of the Bend Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) process. Deschutes County sets a Level of Service (LOS) performance criterion for existing and new roads at 17.16.115(H) and 23.60.010(G), Table 2. For an existing road, LOS D is acceptable which equates to an ADT of 5,700-9,600 ADT. Using the most recent traffic counts the highest volumes for any of the measured segments for Tumalo Road is 2,591 ADT at 0.05 miles east of Cline Falls Highway in 2008. For Deschutes Market Road the highest volumes for any measured segment is 5,592 ADT at a point 0.10 miles north of Hamehook Road in 2009. Therefore, regarding through capacity, both Tumalo and Deschutes Market are at approximately 50% capacity. Clearly, 19th Street will not have any distinct traffic impacts to these rural residential enclaves. Conclusion PA -09-2 only adds a line onto a map, it does not create any traffic. Typically it is considered sound planning practice to identify future roads well in advance of their actual need. Waiting until traffic volumes and operations reach a critical point at Yew/97 and then embarking on a land use process to add a road to a TSP map would be poor planning. Approving PA -09-2 does not mean the road will be constructed, that requires a subsequent CUP. The Board could choose to approve 19th Street and delay the CUP until there is a complete funding package to construct. An eventual 19th Street will provide another route for traffic to travel between Bend and Redmond without having to use a state highway, travel through the bottleneck of Yew/97 interchange, or utilize an at -grade railroad crossing.