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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSP Update Summary MEMORANDUM TO: Dave Kanner, County Administrator FROM: Peter Russell, Senior Transportation Planner DATE: October 13, 2009 MEETING: October 21, 2009 SUBJECT: Status report on Deschutes County Transportation System Plan (TSP) Update BACKGROUND The Deschutes County Transportation System Plan (TSP) was adopted on Aug. 26, 1998, by the Board of County Commissioners as Ordinance 98-044. Given the dramatic changes in the County in the intervening decade, the County began a TSP Update in Jan. 2007. The TSP Update is funded by a $100,000 grant from the Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) Program, which is run jointly by the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Staff has held kick off meeting in fall 2007 in Bend, La Pine, Redmond, Sisters, Terrebonne, and Tumalo to solicit public input on transportation issues. Staff has also worked with the County Road Department, the Deschutes County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), local jurisdictions, and ODOT to identify transportation issues. The TSP, while centered on roads, covers a variety of modes. The various modes and the issues raised are provided below. Staff hopes to have a draft TSP to submit to the Board by late winter/early spring 2010. The TGM grant expires June 30, 2010. Air The major change will be moving the language related to the Bend Airport from the comprehensive plan into the TSP. Staff will also work with the City of Bend staff and their consultants to incorporate changes to the Bend Airport Master Plan into the TSP as needed. The future runway extensions for the Redmond Airport will be added to the TSP and how those affect the alignment of OR 126. No issues have been raised regarding the Sisters Airport. While there is a group who has advocated an airport within La Pine, the City has declined to pursue that facility at this time and the site lies outside the jurisdiction of the County. Bike/ped CDD and the Road Department have worked with BPAC and Sen. Wyden’s Committee on Central Oregon Recreational Assets. There was a fair degree of overlap in their desires for the County to designate bicycle routes on selected County roads. (Currently, the County only has shared shoulder bikeways.) This would require changes to shoulder widths, width of fog lines, and signing the routes. 2 The Wyden committee has identified a “Three Sisters Scenic Byway” that examined improving road cycling in the County. Specifically, the Wyden subcommittee proposed 1) improving USFS Road #41 between Bend and Sunriver; 2) provide a paved route between Sisters and Bend besides U.S. 20; 3) identify key road segments to improve cycling between Bend, Sisters, and Redmond. Pedestrian concerns centered along identifying a trail system that utilized canal ditchrider roads to reach Smith Rock State Park from Bend and Redmond. (Bike could use these, too). Finally, the Tumalo areal desires a pedestrian trail along the Deschutes River from Tumalo State Park to the community. In the past the County has not designated specific pedestrian trails or off- road bicycling routes as these recreational amenities were provided by the US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands and that the County did not have a parks district component. Staff’s proposal is to include the identified bike routes and trails on the TSP map. Having the routes and trails on an adopted map can give an advantage when seeking grants to fund the planned improvements. Finance Update the financial forecasts of the current TSP with those prepared for the establishment of the County’s transportation system development charge (SDC). Review project costs for those carryovers from the current TSP. Review funding proposals including timely review of SDC rate, regional gas tax, fees on studded tires, and bonding. Roads ODOT’s Transportation Planning and Analysis Unit (TPAU) in Salem is producing the transportation/land use model. The horizon year is 2030 and County staff have provided land use and road information. The base year (2008) has been completed and calibrated. The future volumes should be done by mid-November. Once those are done, the model will indicate which segments on the state highway system and the County system are performing with standard or are deficient. During public outreach and working with the Road Department and ODOT the following topics have been mentioned. These are given in particular order of importance. 19th Street: Staff is applying to amend the TSP map to add this rural arterial between Deschutes Market and Redmond. The plan amendment requires an exception to Goal 3 (Agriculture). The first evidentiary hearing before the Planning Commission will be Dec. 17, 2009. Terrebonne: Lower Bridge Way/97, potential solutions range from interchange, an overpass, a couplet using 97 and 11th, or disconnecting and installing a traffic signal at B or C and 97, or a bypass. O’Neil Highway: Potentially an overpass as the first phase at O’Neil/97 with an interchange as the ultimate fix; likely, this would be tied to development of a reload site on Prineville Railroad. Curves on the Crook County end of O’Neil are causing length restrictions for trucks. Smith Rock Way: Weight restrictions on bridges are adversely affecting trucks. The combination of gravel trucks originating in Crook County destined for Redmond with length restrictions on the O’Neil and weight restrictions on Smith Rock Way have led to truck using 17th, which was not designed with heavy loads and thus is rapidly deteriorating. 3 U.S. 97: Working with ODOT to add conceptual maps and more detail to a system of frontage roads and medians between Bend and Redmond. This is furthering the “four phase” policy approach in the current TSP on how to go from a two-lane highway to a four-lane facility via passing lanes, raised medians and other access management tools, frontage/backage roads, and grade-separated interchanges. Deschutes Junction: Adding 19th Street and reclassifying Deschutes Market Road as an arterial (the Board did this as part of the Bend UGB process, but the reclassification was tied to the state approving the Bend UGB). Working with ODOT to get a conceptual design of an upgraded Deschutes Junction interchange and associated access management decisions. Tumalo: Continue working with ODOT to locate future grade-separated interchange in Tumalo and incorporate the results of their Tumalo refinement plan into the TSP. Work with the agency to determine the issues, opportunities, and constraints for a system of frontage/backloads and access management to implement the “four phase approach” between Sisters and Bend. South County: Isolated rural subdivisions needing secondary emergency access continues to be a hot topic. Several members of the La Pine Transportation Advisory Group have expressed interest that the County consider a roundabout at Burgess/Day when traffic signal warrants are met. Rail Adopt the recommendations of the “Central Oregon Rail Plan” prepared for the Central Oregon Area Commission on Transportation (COACT). This plan prioritizes improvements to or closures of all at-grade rail crossings in the tri-counties. Transit Update the TSP to reflect the establishment of Cascades East Transit (CET) in the tri-County area and how that ties into Bend’s fixed-route service. Show location of future or expanded park and ride lots in rural locations as identified in discussion with Commute Options and the Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO). CONCLUSION Staff welcomes any feedback from the Board on the transportation issues summarized above, particularly those in the bike/ped portion.