Road Services Division Capital Improvement Program

Introduction, program goals and key 2008 – 2013 issues

Primary goals

The 2008 – 2013 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) supports the Road Services Division's vision to be a leader, partner and provider of local and regional transportation services and to play a significant role in shaping regional transportation policy.

The primary goal of the Capital Improvement Program continues to be the construction of improvements to existing roadways to provide safe, efficient and environmentally sound transportation facilities for the movement of goods, services and the general public. The CIP is developed to provide safe roads and bridges, to be consistent with federal, state and county land use policies and plans and to meet identified transportation needs. This CIP addresses the needs and deficiency issues of the Division's facilities with an eye to the future of King County.

The goals identified in the Division's Core Business Goals that relate to the CIP are:

The adopted 2008 – 2013 Roads CIP totals $330 million for the six-year period, including a new appropriation in 2008 of $55 million. The road and bridge improvements reflected in this program are consistent with the principles and policies of the adopted King County Comprehensive Plan.

Project prioritization methodology

There are two primary prioritization processes that provide input to the CIP: the Bridge Priority Process published in the Annual Bridge Report and the Transportation Needs Report (TNR).

The Annual Bridge Report includes the prioritized list of County bridges for replacement or rehabilitation. The criteria used to evaluate these priorities include; sufficiency rating, seismic rating, geometrics, hydraulics, load limits, traffic safety, serviceability, importance, useful life and structural concern. This report is updated annually and submitted to the Council for review.

Revisions to the Transportation Needs Report (TNR) were last included in the 2006 King County Comprehensive Plan update which was adopted by Council on Oct. 2, 2006. The TNR was developed to screen out projects that are cost prohibitive or not buildable due to environmental restrictions. The TNR includes the Division's safety related priority arrays, including High Accident Location, High Accident Road Segment, Pedestrian Safety and Mobility, Guardrail Priority and Signal Priority. The projects within the proposed CIP are consistent with the adopted TNR.

In prioritizing capital investments for roads and bridges, the Division first looks to the transportation policies adopted in King County Comprehensive Plan. Those policies inform the prioritization processes used to develop the TNR. The Division places a greater emphasis and a higher priority on projects providing safe and efficient roadways and preserving our infrastructure.

Growth Management and Comprehensive Plan issues

The County is required by the State's Growth Management Act  and by the County's Comprehensive Plan to specify transportation levels of service and enforce them through a concurrency management system. State legislation and County Comprehensive Plan policies ensure that new growth is concurrent with needed transportation improvements by directing the use of infrastructure funding to areas where level of service standards are not being met and where growth should occur based on the land use vision of the Comprehensive Plan.

The Transportation Concurrency Management program is a key tool used by the County to ensure that transportation improvements are consistent with the goals established in the Comprehensive Plan. A certificate of transportation concurrency confirms that transportation facilities to serve the development are available or there is a financial commitment in place to construct the needed improvements within six years. Financial commitment is established if construction of the improvements is programmed in the adopted Roads six year CIP.

The Comprehensive Plan distinguishes between building new capacity projects for existing and pipeline development (vested in permitting) and those projects needed to serve future new growth. Capital projects that increase roadway capacity to accommodate existing and pipeline development are given a higher priority than projects that increase roadway capacity to accommodate future development.

Projects included in the Roads 2008 – 2013 Capital Improvement Program have been evaluated for consistency with the Comprehensive Plan.

Financial planning and policy overview

The six-year capital improvement program is primarily financed by the contribution from the County Road Fund (Fund 103), various State and Federal transportation grants and developer mitigation payments. The Division continues to seek local and/or regional funding to replace the lost VLF, which provided the sole funding to partner with cities on regionally significant projects. With the approval by the state legislature of House bill 1858 that was signed by Governor Gregoire the county has the ability to levy a local option vehicle fee through the creation of a Transportation Benefit District. The Division will need to pursue a number of financing options just to maintain the current level of funding.

The 2008 – 2013 financial plan shows a reduction of $33 million from the adopted 2007-2012 financial plan due to a decrease that is explained in gas tax revenue.the operating budget. In order to maintain the road fund contribution in the first year of the six year CIP at a level comparable to the contribution in 2007, we are relying on revenue from the sale of various surplus properties owned by the Division, which will be sold in 2008/2009

The Division is proposing to use the revenues from the sale of the Summit Pit to finance repairs to and modernization of the various aging maintenance facilities. In addition, there are two new projects to fund the design, permitting and construction of new north and south regional road maintenance facilities to serve the unincorporated residents of King County for many years into the future.

Descriptions of significant projects

The proposed budget includes $7.7 million in 2008 for the Roads Overlay Program. This is part of the $50.8 million investment the county will be making over the next six years to preserve our roadways. The countywide overlay program is one of the key programs that ensure the preservation of the 1,850 centerline miles of roads within unincorporated King County. The investment in surface paving maximizes the service life, at the least cost, of our roads and provides a smooth driving surface for the efficient movement of freight and passenger vehicles throughout unincorporated King County.

In 2008 as the EIS for the South Park Bridge draws to a close, Road's will begin design of the Bascule Bridge selected alternative. This budget includes a 2008 appropriation of $7.7 million to begin the design effort. Design is scheduled to be finished in 2009 and in 2010 this project is slated for construction if the needed revenues can be found. The current project estimate is $150 million with the bulk of the revenue coming form the passage of the RTID this November.

The current timber bridge, on SE May Valley Rd over Issaquah Creek, is reaching the end of it's useful life. The 2008 appropriation for construction is $3 million and is partially funding by the federal BRAC program. Construction is scheduled to begin in May of 2008 and continue to the end of 2009.

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