Puyallup Valley Not a Regional Transportation Corridor
More Effective Transportation Networks Available
The Rhodes Lake Road Project is pivotal to the success of the vision stated in the Alderton-McMillin Community Plan. Nothing in this plan can stand, can endure if we are not clear and firm on the Transportation Element and the Rhodes Lake Road Corridor Project in particular.
First let me say this: both the valley residents and the Council want to retain the rural character of the valley. To do that, urban traffic must be kept at a minimum and urban services not allowed to encroach into the rural area. I am sure you are aware of the many times the County
has said they want to "…preserve our community’s rural character, enhance its environmental quality, and promote a sustainable economic future." (Shawn Bunney, 10/08/2005) The Council came forward this past November with the Farming Assistance, Revitalization and Marketing program (the FARM program) that included a "Farmbudsman" to demonstrate their commitment to the retention of farming
and a farming economy in Pierce County. And in December the Council said, "Standing by and watching our agricultural heritage slip away is not an option." (TNT, 12/05/2006) And there have been many more.
So, preservation of rural character, environmental quality and a sustainable farming economy are all basic given assumptions for the desired future the County Council has for the valley. All of this is in harmony with the vision this board has set forth.
Now let’s look at the Rhodes Lake Road Corridor Study with this as the backdrop.
The targets for the Rhodes Lake Road Project keep moving as different parties claim different purposes for it. It is in our best interest to review all the purposes and the alternatives that can best achieve them.
Brian Ziegler, Director of Public Works and Utilities, stated three purposes for the project that I shall address one at a time:
Create a complete transportation network
A road from Cascadia to SR162 at mid-valley (116th or 128th) is not a complete transportation network. It is no network at all. It is just a road from the plateau to the valley. It goes to no destination, only to another corridor to the
route the plateau residents already have: SR410. But it also makes the valley impassable and adulterates the essential tranquil quality that gives the valley its rural character.
Considering Military Road as part of creating a complete transportation network clearly will not achieve that objective. Even if the County chooses to spend $12 to $14 million to build one lane about a mile up the hill, it still does not result in the
development of a network, but draws the travelers to another residential region.
The South Plateau Connection, designed in the vicinity of the Bridge For Kids, on the other hand, provides a connection to another urban area (Orting) and connects with a transportation network (via 176th Street) to many destinations to the west.
This is truly an east-west corridor. It would create a corridor from Bonney Lake from SR410 at South Prairie Road, down 198th and off the plateau to Orting, across the valley to 176th, up the hill to South Hill, Fredrickson, South Tacoma, and Interstate 5. It would connect to other north-south corridors including SR161, Canyon Road, Pacific Avenue, and I-5 as well
as other more minor support network roadways. That IS a true transportation network that will serve the whole region, not just the Bonney Lake Plateau developments.
Provide east-west mobility
As described above, none of the mid-valley options for the Rhodes Lake Road project provide any east-west mobility. They do not connect to any transportation network on South Hill or any other destination points west. It only provides a connection between the
plateau and another north-south corridor, SR162. If the destination is SR410, then the traffic should access that highway on the plateau, through the urban areas more suitable to the level of service the developments require. That would protect the valley from urban commuters and be a major step in protecting the valley from urban development and the change of environmental character
from rural to suburban or urban.
Redundancy
The purpose of redundancy is to provide an alternative route and in this case provide an evacuation route for valley residents should a Lahar or other emergency occur that would require evacuation. Since a majority of the valley residents are in the Orting
area, a highway at mid-valley would not serve the evacuation needs of the majority of the population. The mid-valley residents can currently use Rhodes Lake Road and Military Road for evacuation. If you build a major arterial road there, the population concentration in the Orting area will try to race up the valley to access it and a majority of the population would perish. With the
South Plateau connection, they would have a major exit access and leave the mid-valley residents able to exit to safety using the existing Rhodes Lake Road and Military Road.
The following purposes have been included in our Community Plan and have also been part of the Rhodes Lake Road Project Leadership Team meeting discussions:
Meet travel demand between land uses (Bonney Lake Plateau and South Hill)
It has been claimed that residents from South Hill will want to go to Cascadia and Cascadia residents will want to go to South Hill. The issue is employment commuting, not shopping commuting. Most residents of South Hill will not be employed in Cascadia or the
Bonney Lake Plateau. Most of the Cascadia residents will not be employed on South Hill but in locations beyond the South Hill Business District and to locations northward. So the land uses of Bonney Lake and South Hill are not an issue for the major traffic pattern during the congested commute hours. What is needed is a transportation network that will take the Bonney Lake and Cascadia
travelers to destinations beyond South Hill; i.e. the South Plateau/176th Street corridor. The travel demand within the valley is currently congested, as we all know, and an alternative to this congestion should be a concern of this corridor study. It appears that it is not. The travel needs for the Orting residents, current and future, are much better served by 176th
street and the South Plateau connection that will not draw travelers to the valley floor as much as to draw them to the east-west through service of that corridor. It could have the benefit of relieving the valley of some traffic that would otherwise prohibit travel, or even help meet the need for travel between the land uses in the valley.
Minimize the impacts to the Natural and Built Environment
It is quite clear that any new road carrying the volume of traffic that is proposed with the Rhodes Lake Road Corridor Project will have a huge detrimental impact on the natural environment. What we need to find is the opportunity for the least impact.
Considering that this is an urban service, it seems it should be directed first to urban areas with as little residual impact on the rural community as possible. This means that the primary corridor should be the South Plateau Connection, connecting the urban area of Cascadia to the urban area of Orting. The impact of any residual traffic would have the least effect on the rural nature
of our valley and would help preserve what we, both the County Council and we, the Community Planning Board, say we want. Let’s serve the Built Environment of the City of Orting and Cascadia and South Hill by directing the County’s attention to the value of the South Plateau Connection to fulfill this purpose of the Rhodes Lake Road Project.
Optimize the financial investment and transportation infrastructure
Once again, the South Plateau Connection wins on this issue. There is no doubt this is a very expensive option, but in the long run, it is the most effective and therefore the biggest return on the dollar. The County will never see the opportunity for funding
this option that exists currently when you consider the commitment Cascadia has to provide an alternate access corridor to its development. Partnering with Cascadia and members of the Plateau Transportation Partnership and perhaps acquiring some support from the City of Orting and others who stand to benefit from it (The Buttes and other developments) and looking into possibilities from
special state and federal funding will put this option in a far more "affordable" position than at any other time. The County should look to the partnerships that were formed to fund the North Tapps Highway as an example of the opportunities that are available for the South Plateau Connection.
This option not only provides the transportation corridor that is needed by all of the urban communities it connects (Bonney Lake, Cascadia, Orting, South Hill and beyond), but provides a primary emergency evacuation route for the urban population area in
Orting. It also leaves the mid-valley residents the possibility and opportunity to evacuate via the current routes of Military Road and Rhodes Lake Road -- and, no doubt, eventually the Falling Water Road. This has become a very important issue the County needs to take seriously as the population in the valley and the plateau continues to increase. Building a transportation
infrastructure and using our financial resources wisely includes the assurance of a safe living environment to the public, so far as that can be assured. The South Plateau Connection would help provide that assurance as well as provide for a true transportation infrastructure and network.
It seems abundantly clear that to achieve all the goals: provide a transportation network for the plateau residents and the region, to establish an east-west corridor, provide exit routes for evacuation, be good stewards of the County’s financial resources, and protect the valley farm
land for future generations as well as current farmers, the South Plateau Connection is the only reasonable alternative.
The mid-valley options add over 1000 vehicles per hour to our already over capacity valley highway. Think of trying to drive onto the highway if it is made into four lanes and the volume of traffic is around 2600 vehicles per hour. That’s equal to the numbers the County currently shows
for SR410, a limited access highway. We all know how this will impact the 162/410 interchange as well as 167 and 512 interchanges. If the developers think the valley corridor will be a peaceful approach to their communities and relieve congestion for their residents, they need to think this through again. It seems to me, the South Plateau Connection is a service to the developments and
their future residents, especially Cascadia.
Orting, too, would have a primary transportation corridor upon which to consider business development on the north side of town that has recently been converted to a business district and residential zone. So it serves an economic value to Orting as well as a civil service as an
evacuation corridor.
Building a road as proposed at mid-valley will change the character of the valley permanently. The valley cannot be mitigated. Once this soil is not farmable, once it is paved over, built over, or conditions made so farming is not possible on any business level, it cannot be displaced
and created somewhere else. It is known that the valley soil is among the best in the world. A road at mid-valley will cause it to be "extinct" in a matter of a few years after it is built. When you consider the great lengths this society has gone to, to protect the renewable resource of Northwest Salmon, it seems reasonable to protect this unrenewable, unmitigateable, this irreplaceable
natural resource of our rural Puyallup valley by circumventing it for traffic needs of the flanking urban areas.
I have not addressed the recurring concerns and issues of traffic flow, noise, light, run-off pollution, safety, and access and egress issues that accompany the level of traffic that is the result of a mid-valley highway; all that would compromise the rural character of the valley.
These are urban issues. A road as proposed at mid-valley is an urban service in a rural area that is a violation of the Growth Management Act. It brings with it these urban characteristics that close the door on protecting the rural character and environment of the valley. All of these issues underscore the benefit of the South Plateau Connection.
I think we all know that an east-west network is important for a regional transportation network. But it must be made clear in this plan that, apart from the South Plateau Connection, No New Roads To the Valley is an essential element to maintain the rural character and fulfill
the vision this board has written and the County Council desires. If this is not stated in this plan, other requests for new roads will be made and allowed by the County because we have not outright stated that there must not be any.
What about Falling Water? We know Falling Water will build a road to McCutcheon by order of the Hearing Examiner, but it will be built against the best judgment of this board on how to achieve the vision we have set forth. We do not endorse it, though it will happen. There will be
opportunities to address the details of that new road as it works through the processes of becoming a reality. It can be built so it does not impact our viewshed, so it is not visible from the valley floor. It can be built to manage the traffic most effectively.
The South Plateau Connection is vital to the achievement of the Planning Board’s Vision.
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