2015-12-28-minutes-public-works-study-session

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Impact on Congested Corridors Washington slate . .� Department of Trmtsportatlon Identified Bottleneck or Chokepoint ; Level of Service Bottleneck or chokepoint number from map 11,45 The current level of service through the corridor is: Bottleneck of Chokepoint loco*.ion is not on map Varies in Level of Service from C through F Snoqualmie Pass Comment: Describe the congestion problems your proposal addresses. The explanation should relate the project to both the public transportation system and the broader regional transportation system and should clearly demonstrate the co:m.ection between the problem and your proposal. 1-90 is listed as a targeted bottleneck and choke -point for investments in the 2004 Washington Transportation Plan update on Bottlenecks and Choke -points. Although travel delay mostly occurs in urban areas, this major cross state corridor experiences level of service C through F periodically due to the large volume of trips associated with freight, commuting, and recreational travel. Currently, congestion and slowdowns on 1-90 across Snoqualmie Pass follow a few typical patterns. Winter storms cause slowdowns from November through March. Summer time high volumes typically occur Memorial Day through labor Day. Volumes peak in both directions with the heavier congestion occurring eastbound on Friday, and westbound Sunday. When the 1-90 Snoqualmie Pass East improvement project is finished it will have a large impact on traffic. The project is expected to extend into 2020 and will provide an additional lane in each direction just east of the Summit. Simply adding capacity is not the whole answer, travelers need to be encouraged to reduce the number of vehicles on the road by carpooling and vanpooling. The park and ride lot proposed will encourage commuters to consolidate and reduce the single occuoancv vehicle. Other congested areas of concern would be motorists entering the metropolitan area of Puget Sound. Congestion on a daily basis, occurs beginning in the Issaquah area on 1-90. The proposed Park and Ride lot will serve to reduce the number of motorists entering the construction zone on Snoqualmle Pass as well as the metropolitan area on a daily basis.