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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: August 22, 2022 <br />TOPIC: Safe Streets for All Grant Submittal <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct staff proceed with grant submittal. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Public Works (PW) planning staff has been meeting with Snoqualmie Pass <br />stakeholders for the past several months. <br />• PW has agreed to lead grant submittal efforts on behalf of all stakeholders. <br />• Stakeholders are seeking funding for a safety plan for the pass. <br />• Lack of significant accident data makes the effort difficult. <br />• Grant match is anticipated in the $120,000 range. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Private and public interests desire comprehensively planning for congestion and safety <br />improvements at Snoqualmie Pass for the next twenty years. A group of stakeholders <br />(resort operators, business owners, Washington State Department of Transportation, King <br />County, homeowner associations, and various other state and federal agencies) are <br />pulling together in this effort. A recent grant opportunity "Safe Streets and Roads for <br />All", provides promise for dealing with increasing safety concerns at the pass. While the <br />county has an approved Highway Safety Plan meeting grant requirement, it does not <br />address Snoqualmie Pass. Numerous owners of existing infrastructure make using the <br />county's existing safety plan difficult. PW believes a specialty safety plan is required to <br />manage competing transportation demands at the pass. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />The complex interactions of pedestrian, bike, heavy trucks, passenger vehicles, transit <br />and parking demand are slowly strangling the pass. While the numbers of significant <br />injury accidents and transportation related deaths do not exist currently, it is a matter of <br />time before we begin seeing such trauma at the pass. The proposed grant narrative is <br />provided in EXHIBIT 1. Seeking to get in front of the pending calamity, PW is leading <br />the safety planning effort on behalf of pass stakeholders (a proposed scope of work and <br />task budget is provided in EXHIBIT 2 attached). <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2022 <br />