PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-75 Development of the project could result in a loss of areas that are informally used by ATVs and snowmobiles such as the BPA transmission line easement. Loss of these informal areas would likely result in more use of formal and designated areas and routes for ATV and snowmobile usage, as well as displacement of informal use to adjacent National Forest and other public lands. County road standards for rural areas do not require sidewalks; however, sidewalks or trails constructed on the outside banks of the roadside ditch could be developed to enhance pedestrian safety. Alternatively, an off-road system of trails could be developed that may better serve both pedestrians and off-road vehicles by separating them from conflict with vehicular traffic. 18 How would future maintenance responsibilities and costs change? Without the project, maintenance responsibilities and costs would generally be similar as they are today. Railroad Street and Sparks Road would continue to be maintained by Kittitas County and costs would be paid by the County road fund. All other roads would be privately maintained. However, if substantial increases in traffic occur from the development, resurfacing to fill pot holes and dust suppression treatments along Country Drive and Pit Way could become more frequent and costs could increase slightly. Kittitas County maintenance of paved roads such as Railroad Street and Sparks Road are partially related to traffic volumes but also are affected by winter conditions, particularly frost heaving that degrades the road subsurface and surface. Additional traffic volumes would not necessarily result in a proportional increase in maintenance needs but would have some effect. Maintenance of gravel roads is directly affected by traffic volumes that tend to combine with weather conditions to increase road surface failures resulting in increased pot holes. Additional traffic also increases the dust generated. Both of these factors would degrade the driving experience or adversely affect adjacent residences and increase costs. Gravel roads in the area are maintained by homeowner associations. With the project, traffic volumes on Country Drive and Pit Way would increase and result in an associated maintenance cost increase. Cost impacts depend on the extent to which the project is required to participate in upgrading the roads to avoid impacts or pay a proportional cost of maintenance. The effects on snow removal needs and costs would be relatively low because snow removal is determined by snowfall. Additional development might decrease the cost per residence if all residences are required to contribute to the cost. The project’s homeowner association would be responsible for all road maintenance on the site. Roads would be required to be paved initially; therefore, maintenance costs would be relatively low for a period of years until roads began to deteriorate. After that point, bituminous surface treatment would be required every few years to maintain roads in optimum condition. Less frequent maintenance would result in gradual deterioration of roads. In addition, snow removal would be the complete responsibility of the residents and would be paid for by a homeowner association. The cost of snow removal on the upper