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2011 Discretionary Grant Programs

Transportation,

Community, and System Preservation Program (TCSP)

PROGRAM FY 2011 GRANT APPLICATION

PART A. PROJECT INFORMA nON ect Title:

, Project Location (Include City/County,
JBLM /I-S Congestion Relief Action Plan Thurston and Pierce Counties, from Lacey (Thurston County) to Lakewood (Pierce county) / Washington

State): State Priority (to be completed by State DOT):

Lon D. Wyrick, Executive Director Thurston Regional

Planning Council

2424 Heritage Court SW, Ste A

Otvmpia, WA 98502
360.956.7575

I I!
I
I

Fax:

360.956.7815
wyri ckl@trpc.org

E-Mail: STATE DOT CONTACT INFORMATION State Contact Person:

Phone:

I
I

Kevin Dayton, Olympic Region Administrator

360.357.2605 360.357,2601

Fax:
E-Mail:

FHWA DIVISION OFFICE CONTACT INFORMATION Division Contact Person: Phone: Fax:
Rick Judd 360·753~9485
360~753-9889

E-Mail:

Rick.Judd@DOT.GOV

Updated: May 20,201]

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2011 Discretionary Grant Program5

CONGRESSIONAL INFORMATION Congress Member: Congressional District No.:

Adam Smith I Norm Dicks 9th District

16th

District $630,000

Matchi

n-kind Services Value:

$1,593,000
$344,000 - JBLM

Matching Funds/In-kind Services Source:

$630,000 -Interstate Maintenance Account $619,000 - State, local, MPO

State Administered? Division Administered? 'Transfer" TCSP funding for Project Administration? which Federal If en Will the project be obligated by Se mber 30, 2011? Date grant application approved by FHWA Division Office

Yes Yes

No No No

Yes
Yes

No

Part B. Project Abstract

JBLM 11-5 Congestion Relief Action Plan

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2011 Distretionary

Grant Programs

Part C. Project Narrative

The J8LM 11-5 Congestion Relief Action Plan incorporales results from previous studies and analyses to identify quick-turnaround strategies for ameliorating vehicular congestion on 1-5 in the Vicinity of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. That rapidly growing congestion is crippling regional, military, and freight mobility in the 1-5 corridor'. While efforts proceed on long-term strategies to rebuild the existing infrastructure, the time and cost associated with that retrofit is huge. This Action Plan will result in an interim implementation package for relieving growing congestion on 1-5 with low cost I high value measures that improve the operational efficiency of the entire system while providing incentives for the use of transit. van pools, and carpools as recommended in the Joint Base Lewis-McChQrd Growth CoordInation Plan!!. Using a coordinated systems approach, the Action Plan will identify a suite of measures that can be deployed within six months, one year, and three years. Each suite of measures will include a mix of investments, strategies and policies to make 1-5 travel more reliable, more efficient, and as cast effective as possible. Combinations to be evaluated include active traffic management, diamond lane conversions, transit shoulders and queue jumps, enhanced transit service. vanpools, park-and-rlos expansion, parking policies, and time of day tolling as well as employer-based programs like telework, flex schedules, and ride share. The Action Plan will start with low-cost, high-value, qulck-to-irnplement measures that can improve teday's travel conditions while longer-term, capltal-lntenslve strategies are being designed. TCSP Objectives The goal of the J8LM 11-5 Congestion Action Plan is to make 1-5travel in the vicinity of JBLM more reliable, more efficient, and less expensive. This fully supports TCSP objectives; • Improving 1-5 efficiency by maximizing person through movement is not just a goal of the Action Plan, it supports established policies and investments outlined in the WSDOT Moving Washington plan"',Thurston Regional Planning Council's (TRPC) Regional Transportation PI~nlv, v Puget Sound Regional Council's Transportation 2040 , the State's Growth Management Act'" am;1 Commute Trip Reduction law"", and as evidenced byWSDOT investments in Rideshare OnlineYll1• • Reducing jmpacts on the environmenl by increasl~ the person-throughput efficiency of 1-5 results in reduced per capita vehicle miles traveled X. lower energy consumption, and delays the need for widening with its impacts on stormwater, Wetlands, known tribal ancestral lands, and adjacent communities. • Reducing the need for costly future investments in infrastructure is possible only jf exisling 1-5 capacity is managed wisely. EliminatIng inefficiency is the most cost-effective way to increase system capacity. Innovative strategies to make best use of the existing capacity will postpone, if not eliminate, more expensive infrastructure options while improving mobility. • Providing efficient access to jobs, services, and centers of trade is the primary purpose of the Action Plan. JBLM is the largest employer in Pierce County and a major economic driver for South Sound'. Improving mobility on 1-5 is a vital freight interest in a State where one-third of the economy is trade dependent.'" • Encouraging private sector development that achieves the above objectives is most effective when the private sector - or in this case, the military - is an active partner in the process. The Action Plan relies on coordination between the military base, adjacent civilian communities, and WSDOT to identify and implement quick-response strategies that improve system efficiency and reIi abiHty. That is why the Action Plan will rely on the South Sound Mili1ary and Communities Partnership Steering Committee" as its leadership team. The Acuon Plan will result in: improved travel time for transit, vanpool, and carpool commutes; improved overall reliability for passenger and freight system opera1ions; Increased vehicle occupancy: reduced vehicle demand for access to JBLM; and reduced per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on 1-5. Visit www.trpc.orq and click on Congestion Relief Action Plan for background and supporting documents.

Priority ConSiderations
1. The Action Plan is consistent with, and developed in conjunction with, coordinated local, regional, state, and military growth planning processes as required by the Washington State Growth Management Act. and as recommended by the _National Research Council's Federal Funding of Transportation Improvements in BRAG Cases~ {January 2011}. In addition to slate-mandated local

Updated:

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2011

Discretionary

Gnmt

Prngrarns

2.

3.

4.

5.

comprehensive transportation and land use plans, the Action Plan reflects previous studies focused on 1-5congestion in the vicinity of the military basa'", and on-base land use ptans" and eTR efforts. The Action Plan directly responds to a 2011 legislative budget proviso directing that YVSDOT reduce vehicle demand and increase public transportation options for JBlM commute trips"". This interagency coordination and consistency with earlier analyses will result in cost-effective and strategic investments that minimize adverse environmental impacts, and promote innovative commute trip reduction strategies by JBLM. Implementation strategies resulting from this Action Plan will leverage Intercity Transit investments to achieve high frequency express service to this growth corridor, and the Sound Transit commuter rail extension to Lakewood in a planned transit-oriented development community. These investments will be supported not only by Action Plan strategies but by established growth management boundaries that encourage compact. transit-oriented urban development and minimize urban sprawl. Not only will the Action Plan strategies support alternatives to driving alone with their associated air quality, climate change, and energy consumption benefits, locally and regionally adopted plans and policies further reduce transportation impacts on the environment by curbing urban sprawl, reducing per capita impervious surface attributable to transportation, and promoting active transportation choices that contribute to hearthy lifestyles. The Action Plan relies on active participation of the South Sound Military and Communities Partnership X"". The Steering Committee of this established partnership will serve in a leadership capacity for the Action Plan and rollout of its implementation strategies; its Transportation Expert panel will support technical activities. The Partnership includes public, private, military. and business leaders from JBLM and adjacent communities, as well as WSOOT. Inclusion of JBLM as a pnncote stakeholder in developing and implementing the Action Plan ensures on-base trip reduction strategies and land development are coordinated with off-base strategies. This coordination is essential to relieving congestion. JBLM is the largest employer in Pierce County and the third largest state employer. The Base is the single largest employment site in Washington.

Project Selection
•

Criteria

• •

LIvability is enhanced through congestion relief measures that improve highway efficiency through low-cost operational improvements and measures to encourage high occupancy vehicle usage, Providing more transportation choices is a core regional livability objective. This also reinforces local and regional efforts to reduce per capita VMT, and to keep overall system costs as low as possible. Safety is enhanced by smoothing out the traffic flow and by redUCing the per capita risk of exposure through promotion of high occupancy vehicle usage, Expeditious completion of project is perhaps the most important aspect of the Action Plan, which will enable deployment of effective, low-cost relief measures in less than a year instead of relying solely on long-term, costly measures like highway widening which cannot be accomplished for years. State priorities for TCSP are yet 10 be delermined, however the need for immediate congestion relief is recognized in the recently adopted State transportation budget?" and evidenced by Senate briefings with the Secretary of Transportation earlier this year. Leveraging of funds is what enables a $630,000 TCSP gran1 to complete a $2.2 million Action Plan, Project funding includes local, MPO, state, and military revenues representing a 72% match. Summ

F ndln

'MPQ' funding includes mix of primarily local and stale With some federal dollars. 'Other Fed' Is from IN! Slale'S In1ersta~ Maintenance account. At least 27% of project funds come from non-federal transportation sources. Total match is 72%.

Schedule Project will commence in October 2011, assuming funds are available by September. Project will be complete within 18 months, with deliverables released for implementation as they are complete.

Proiect

Prolect Administration TRPC wUI be the fiscal agent. and administer the project. As the MPO, TRPC has long-standing experience administering federal grants. TRPC will contract with WSDOT, City of Lakewood, and Pierce
Transit for elements of this work.

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2011 Discretionary

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Part D. Project
0.

Eligibility

Yes, the project is located on a Federot-atd highway. Interstate 5 is an Urban Principal Arterial (11).

b. Not applicable.

c. Yes,the project a corridor preservation activity necessary to implement

coordinated transportation, community, and system preservation practices.

~. or a summary of 1·5 cong estion im pads in this area see httpJlwww.wsoot.we.goyfprojectS/i5IftlewismcchOrdtransoortation/ F Improving regional moblJitywas part of the core recommendation package coming oul ofthls comprehensive planning effort For details on the mobility recommendations and other growth facets addressed in this plan, please see the full plan on-line at ;r.:'W.Jblm-growth .com . II Two of the State's Plans three foundational prinCiples are to operate the system we have effICiently, and 10 provide choices that ~eJp manage transportation demand. Sea the Plan at www.wsdot.wa,gov/movlnowashinglon/. IV The TRPe Regional Transportatlon Plan specifies the need lor interim measures to Improve 1-5 mobflity through the use of active traffic management systems, express transit served by HOV lanes, aggressive demand management, and supportive land use policies that curb auto-oriented sprawl. www.trpc.orafregjona!PlanningftransoortatiQn/pollcy!Pages(derault.aspx v For creiails see http://www,psrc,org/asseIS/3#5/Final Draft Plan· FINAL· April 15.oof.
II

Tha Washington State Growth ManagementAcI (GMA) was passed in 1990 (RCW 36.70A.010) and provides a framework for coordinated local, regional, and state planning thaI integrates transportation and land use decision·making in support of more efficient transportation systems and a reduction in sprawling development patterns, among other objectives. WWIN.CSl!Tlmercewa.govi ctedidocumentslid 892 publications,Ddf VII First passed In 1991, Washington's Commute Trip Reduction Efficiency Act provlde3 requirements for large employers to reduce the drive· alone commute rale and Yehicle miles traveled. www.wsdot,wa.govfTDMICTRldefauJl.htm Pierce Transit funded a oneyea r contract posltlon for a CTR specialist to better targettrip red ucUon strategies at the base; that position wou Id expire in September. This proposal extends that position for at least one more year to ensure coordinated roll-out of de ployment strateg ies. viii RideshareOnline is a comprehensive platform for delivering ~rketing, incentives, and rlde-matchlng to groups of individuals, and will be used to support JBLM outreach for this effort. See WW-N rideshareonline.com . ix Reducing per capita VMT is an explicit goal of the Govemor's 'Leadership on Climate Change' Executive Order 09·05 (http://wwwoovemQr.wa.govlexecordersleo 09·Q5.pdf) and is an adopted performance measure in the TRPC Iong·range plan. ~ See www,jblm-orowth.com for details on the role of JBLM on jobs and the economy of south Puget Sound and the state, xl See www.wsdot.wa.QOv/NR/rdoniyresI67530525-3531-4 552-A1 ga-8A4255MDAA7/0IWIP$epternber 2008web_pdl for details on the role of freight in the state econom y and how freight mobility impacts that BCOI1OIT1Y.
vi

was the "rst Implementation step to come out of the December 2010 JBLM growth coordination recemmendatons, http;/lwww.jblmilfOWlh.com/committee.php nu Recommendations included on-base programmatic measures and Increased planning coordination between mifilary bases and metropolitan planning organizations as means to reduce travel demand on congested urban iacititles. Report to Congress is aval.able at www.1rb,omfMain/Blurbs/Federa! Funding of Transportation Improvements in 164771.aspx XIV Previous studies in sequential order include the Pygal SQllnd HOV Pre{>esign Studies - Final RePOrt (Parsons Brinkerhoff, 1995), 1-5/ Fort Lewis Conoestign Study (2005, W5DOT in response to WA State Senate request). LMey TcaClSOQrtetiga Sy.stems Analv* snd A"emaflves Evaluation (City of Lacey, 2009); 1-5 Trensp9ffatfon AltemEllive Analvsis and Tnlffic OperatiOnal Model (City of Lakewood, 2010); Fort Lewis and McChoni Air Force Base Growm Coordination f>lan (City of lakewood, 2010); and Joint Bese Lewls-McChorr:! 2011 Qua/itativv Site AsseSsment (Pierce Transit for JBLM commute trip raductkm program, 2011). xv JBLM is rnpiementing integrated land use and transportation plans on base thlll will pnollide more live-work~Iay lifestyle choices for its soldiers. 'Freedom Crossing' and 'Town center' have already Increased the range of on-base housing choices located within walking distance of recreation and retaR services. See http://posls.same.orq/mttacomalSAME·lnfrastructure%20Brlef13May201 final. pdf for mora derails on this aspect of the JBW sustainabllitY planning Itnd implemenlalion efforts. In January 2011, JE3LM won the Secretary of the Army Environmental AWclrds in the Sustflinabif1ty, Non-industrial Category. XVI 'Withln available resources, the department [WSD01] must collaborate with the affected metropolitan planning organizations, negional transportation planning 9I1lanizations, transit agencies, and private transportation providers to develop a plan to reduce vehicle demand, increase public transportation options, and reduce vehicle miles traveled on corridors affected by growth at Joint Base Lewis·McChord.' [Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1175, Section 2.16(3)} l<V1i See WW\V.jblm.growth.com for specific constiluencies committed to the Partnership. Includes $27,000 for 1-5 comcor planning to relieve JBLM congestion and $547,000 targeted to vanpools In aupport of a J8LM c.ongestion reliefstralegy. (ESHB 1175, signed by Governor Gregoire on May 1 e, 2011) XIX From the Interstate Maintenance Account.
!<Viii

xli Creation of the Partnership

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