Arterial Benchmarks & Balancing Needs

As we discussed in the last post, the intent of a Major Institution Master Plan is to "balance the needs" of the institution and the community. On the issue of transportation, the needs of the community and the institution substantially overlap. The CAC can take advantage of common interests in transportation to identify checkpoints for institution growth that help achieve "balance."

When it comes to transportation, the community and the Hospital really are in the same boat. If 42,000 daily car trips to/from the Hospital materialize before major transportation infrastructure improvements occur, we'll all be at a standstill -- patients, neighbors, doctors, hospital staff, UW staff... the list of impacted parties will extend as far as the traffic backups.

Members of the CAC are struggling to find appropriate benchmarks for growth increments of the Hospital. How about linking growth increments to the existing/projected "Level of Service" (LOS) grade of intersections along major arterials surrounding the Hospital? Once key intersections reach (optimistically) "A" grades and models predict that these intersections would only decrease to "Bs" during the next increment of growth, that increment could go forward.

Yes, this requires some coordinated improvements by government entities that will be partially out of the Hospital's hands. To achieve its goals, the Hospital will need to move arterial solutions forward within the context of a complex, regional transportation planning framework. This won't be easy, but the real transportation mess we face does not have easy solutions. Encouraging employees to bike/bus is great, but it doesn't take a large enough chunk of hospital trips off the roads year-round to solve the transportation problem for patients and families.

Remember, growth that plugs all nearby arterials will not "meet the institution's needs." Patients and families will not be able to reach whatever incredible new facility is built if this facility is surrounded by multi-mile traffic backups. Growth that oversteps transportation capacity also won't keep nearby communities functional -- View Ridge, Bryant, Ravenna, Laurelhurst, the U-District... the list will grow with the backups. [Yes, we'd all love to take mass transit all the time, but it's not practical for all trips for all families.]

The CAC should call for transportation benchmarks for growth increments based on arterial function.

EIS Comment Reminder: Remember, you are encouraged to send comments on the Draft EIS to the City DPD through July 25, 2008. Instructions are here.