What Is RTPO And What Is The RTP?
In 1991 the state Growth Management Act enabled counties to form regional transportation planning organizations (RTPO). Skagit County did not qualify as a single county RTPO (100,000 population being required) so it joined with Island County to form the Skagit-Island RTPO. Each operates largely independently as Sub-RTPOs, coming together twice a year to conduct required business and exchange information. Officials from both counties feel that the RTPO has been helpful in them getting to know and appreciate the challenges they both face and to better understand their common interests. The RTPO originally designated the Washington State Department of Transportation NW Region as the “lead planning” agency. When the Skagit Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMPO) was formed it automatically acquired these responsibilities.
The SMPO was formed last year after the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) identified the Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley area as an urban area of more than 50,000 in population, according to the 2000 Census. Formation of a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is not mandatory, but penalties for not doing so are severe; no Federal transportation funds can be spent in the area.
One of the requirements for being an MPO and an RTPO is that of producing a regional transportation plan. For the MPO this is called the metropolitan transportation plan, or MTP. Development of this plan is expected to begin in the summer of 2005. For the RTPO it is the regional transportation plan or RTP. Because Skagit is a sub-RTPO, the plan is referred to as a Sub-RTP. When combined with the Sub-RTP from Island County and joined with an introductory section, they make up an RTP.
The current Skagit Sub-RTP is now 10 years old, well beyond the time frame suggested for updating. Completing the update will put Skagit County in sync with Island County, who finished updating their sub-regional plan two years ago.
Who Are The Players?
The development of the Skagit Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the Update of the Regional Transportation Plan involves many people. They include a policy board, the technical advisory committee, the public, the SCOG staff, the consultants, and others.
The Sub-Regional Transportation Planning Organization (S-RTPO) is governed by a policy board. This board makes key decisions as the planning process progresses and approves the final plans. It made up of local elected officials and a few appointed officials such as the WSDOT Area Administrator. They are:
Mayor Sharon Dillon (Chair) Sedro-Woolley
Mayor Dean Maxwell (Vice Chair) Anacortes
Commissioner Ken Dahlstedt Skagit County
Commission Don Monks Skagit County
Mayor Wayne Everton LaConner
Commission Ted Anderson Skagit County
Mayor Timothy Bates Hamilton
Mayor John Rantschler Concrete
John Cheney Jr. P.T.B.A.
Todd Harrison, P.E. WSDOT
Todd Carlson WSDOT
Chairman Brian Cladoosby Swinomish Tribal
Community
Commissioner Jerry Kaufman Port of Skagit
Mayor Chris Stormont Lyman
Commission Don Monks Skagit County
Mayor Roger Tjeerdsma Burlington
Councilwoman Joanne Valentine Burlington
Commissioner Ray Niver Port of Anacortes
John Pope Tesoro NW
Mayor Bud Norris Mount Vernon
Dale O’Brien SKAT
The Technical Advisory Committee serves both the MPO and the S-RTPO. This committee consists of technical staff from the local jurisdictions, the tribe, the ports, SKAT, and WSDOT. They make decisions on technical matters, provide liaison with the policy board members, and make recommendations to the policy boards on issues requiring their approval. They are:
Mike Love (Chair) Mount Vernon
Steve Flude (Vice Chair) Skagit County
Rick Blair Sedro-Woolley
Rod Garrett Burlington
Todd Carlson WSDOT
Ann M. Gutwein Skagit County
John Doyle LaConner
Cliff Hall WSDOT (Olympia)
Jerry Heller Port of Skagit
Jeff Miller Anacortes
Dale O’Brien SKAT
Kirk Johnson Skagit County
Ed Knight Swinomish Tribe
Tom Stacey WSDOT
The SCOG staff consist of:
Executive Director Kelley Molstad
Transportation Director Dan Pike (360-416-7877)
Sr. Transportation Planner Mark Sullivan
Transportation Planning Assistant James Mastin.
The plan development is being supported by a consultant, Jerry B. Schutz of Balanced Transportation Concepts.
The public provides the feedback and input needed to guide the planning process. No one solution pleases or serves everyone. Thus the decision makers must balance information received from the public with other factors such as technical analysis and state and Federal requirements. Good public feedback comes from a broad range of people, not just those interested in a few specific issues. This newsletter was sent to every mail box in the county in an effort to get that broad feedback.
Others involved in the process include Federal Highway Administration officials in Olympia who approve the Federal funding for SCOG and its planning efforts. They periodically review the operations and work products of the MPO. Washington State Department of Transportation officials in Olympia review the operations and work products of the S-RTPO. This planning effort will provide information for WSDOT to use in its statewide transportation plan.
What alternatives have been studied?
Three alternatives are being considered in the Skagit Metropolitan Transportation Plan and Sub-Regional Transportation Update. They are a low, medium, and high growth scenario. The low growth alternative assumes that the county population will grow to 139,253, which is the number the State Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides for growth management planning. The medium growth scenario uses a number slightly higher than that adopted by the County for growth management planning, or approximately 150,000. The high growth scenario is 164,797, which is the same as the middle projection for OMB. OMB’s high projection is 198,992, considerably higher that anything being considered. The decision to only consider the lower numbers reflects current trends.
For the transportation alternatives the low growth alternative emphasizes freight, Intelligent Transportation Services (ITS), transit (and other) accessibility, safety in existing programs, transportation demand management (TDM) and short headways in one high use transit corridor.
The medium growth alternative includes the low growth alternative and emphasizes safety, capacity, and extension of existing routes/gaps as well.
The high growth alternative includes the medium growth alternative and emphasizes new routes and programs as well.
The alternatives are:
Low Growth
|
Project/Program |
Limits |
Description |
|
I-5 |
Old 99 to Whatcom Co Line |
Pre-Design Study |
|
I-5 |
MP 225.64 |
SR 536 Interchange - Replace interchange to increase capacity |
|
I-5 |
Kincaid to George Hopper |
Auxiliary lanes and I/C Improvements |
|
I-5 |
MP 228.25 |
Skagit River Bridge |
|
SR 9 |
MP 29.50 – MP 98.20 |
Scenic Highway Corridor Management Plan |
|
SR 9 |
MP 37.73 – MP 79.41 |
Access Management Corridor Management Plan |
|
SR 11 |
MP 0.00 – MP 14.10 |
Implement Scenic Highway Corridor Management Plan, Interpretive panels, viewpoints, traveler information, guardrail replacement |
|
SR 20 |
MP 44.66 – MP 46.97 |
North Dewey Beach Drive to MP 47 – Widen shoulders for bicyclists |
|
SR 20 |
MP 47.89 – MP 50.84 |
Sharpes Corner to Swinomish Slough Bridges – Safety Improvements/add interchanges |
|
SR 20 |
MP 51.51 – MP 54.89 |
Swinomish Slough Bridges to SR 536 – Safety Improvements/add interchanges |
|
SR 20 Spur |
MP 50.62 – 55.67 |
Commercial Ave. to Ferry Landing – Signalize and widen to 3 lanes |
|
SR 20 |
MP 63.72 – MP 66.89 |