Don't Forget- Public Open House Wednesday Night

Don't forget- you've got plans tomorrow night to attend the joint public open house for Spokane Transit and SRTC. STA will be filling people in on their proposed High Performance Transit network while we at SRTC will be talking about our Horizon 2040 plan and the impact it could have on you in the future.

The open house is at the Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln St., from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The beauty of holding "open houses" versus "public meetings" is that you can come anytime during the open house hours, get the information you need and leave at any time. There will be a series of "stations" you work your way around to so the informal format works a lot better for busy folks.

SpokeFest 2013 Coming Right Up

SpokeFest 2013 is coming up soon, the day that bikes take over downtown Spokane for rides for all skill levels.
Volunteers are a huge part of the success of the event and the SpokeFest organization is currently in need of 2 people to fill key volunteer positions:
1. Volunteer coordinator: Receives requests of prospective volunteers, makes assignments, and keeps in communication with the volunteers.

2. Course Marshal Captain: Coordinates and supervises Marshals placed at various locations on the course.

If you can fill one of these roles, please contact SpokeFest at spokefest@gmail.com to let them know you're interested.

Also, registration for SpokeFest is now open and you can win prizes for registering early. Here's more info:
http://www.spokefest.org/

We Need Two New Members For Our Policy Board

Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity that gives you a voice in developing local policies, working closely with area decision makers and helping to make transportation choices that shape and develop the regional transportation system?

Do you serve in a management or "leadership" position at your business or agency? Yes? Then we need you for our Policy Board.

SRTC has two open positions on its’ Board to be filled with volunteers serving in management or executive level roles at area businesses or organizations. The positions are:
• Representative from a private sector major employer

• Representative from the rail/freight industry

SRTC is governed by a Policy Board of voting and ex officio non-voting members. The Private Sector Transportation Services Representative is a voting position. The Rail/Freight Industry position is ex officio. Terms for both positions run through December 2015.

Board meetings are held the second Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. at 221 W. First Ave., Suite 310, Spokane, WA 99201. More info is here or give me a call at 509-343-6387.

Spokane Valley Construction For This Week

Sprague/Sullivan ITS - Westbound curb lane closures on Sprague between Evergreen and Sullivan, and northbound curb lane closures on Sullivan from Sprague to I-90 between 6am and 5pm Tuesday, April 9 into mid-May for signal conduit work. Access to businesses will remain available throughout the project.


24th Ave from Adams Rd to Sullivan Rd. - Lane shifts and narrowing on weekdays between 7am and 5pm for sidewalk work. Flaggers and signs will direct traffic through the work area.

Pines Road between Alki Avenue and Olive Avenue - Pines reduced to one lane in each direction between 7am and 7pm Monday, April 8 through Friday, April 12, and into Monday, April 15 for stormwater drainage improvements. Signs will direct traffic through the work area.

    • Tuesday, April 9 - no access between Olive and southbound Pines. Use Broadway/Collins for alternative access.
  • Wednesday April 10 through Friday April 12 and Monday April 15 - no access between Alki and northbound Pines Road. Use Bowdish /Broadway for alternative access.

SRTC Board Meets Thursday, April 11

SRTC's monthly Policy Board meeting is next Thursday, April 11 at 1 p.m. The agenda is here. This could be an interesting one because the Board will be discussing indepth the draft first three chapters of Horizon 2040, our Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). The plan includes information on the current state of the regional transportation system, such as pavement condition and how much it would cost to bring it up to a "good" state of repair. Considering that there's not enough money to fix everything, it could be interesting to hear Board members' reactions to that and how they propose to spread the money there is around.

Companies Targeting Bicycle Tourists

My friends and I always say we will take one of those bicycling wine tours some day. But with lots of other "bicycle tourism" options popping up, we may not stop there.

A former hunting ranch in Oregon has recently switched gears, reinventing itself as a vacation destingation for urban cyclists who want to experience the Old West by bicycle.

The 300 acre ranch is located near a ghost town about 190 miles east of Portland and is offering packages starting at $225 per person per night. This includes three meals a day, accomodations in a spacious guest house and full ride support (including a mid-ride picnic) when you're out on the roads riding. Sounds more cushy than most of my vacations. Here's more from the Bike Portland Blog.

Pay Attention In Area Of Market/Francis

Today, Thursday, April 4, the Market / Francis intersection will be controlled by flaggers for drainage work. The right turn from Francis to northbound Market Street will not be allowed until 3 p.m. today. In general, Left turn movements on Market to Francis are not allowed. The City of Spokane & WSDOT have closed Francis between Market and Crestline for resurfacing and other work.

As a result of the multiple projects, you can expect congestion and long delays near the Francis Avenue and Market Street intersection, especially during the morning and afternoon commute hours. Delays are also possible at the Francis and Freya intersection.

Crews are replacing the existing Francis Avenue Bridge over the railroad tracks with a longer structure to accomodate the North Spokane Corridor.

Spokane Valley Traffic Camera Project Starts Next Week

Work to install traffic management cameras and link signals along Sprague Ave. and Sullivan Rd. to the Spokane Regional Traffic Management Center is tentatively scheduled for April 9. Just to be clear, these cameras are NOT red light cameras, they are the live traffic cameras you can watch at www.srtmc.org.


Drivers can expect westbound curb lane closures on Sprague Ave. between Evergreen Rd. and Sullivan Rd. and northbound curb lane closures on Sullivan Rd. between Sprague Ave. and I-90 during work hours of 6am-5pm on weekdays. Signs will be posted to direct traffic through the work area.

Pedestrian access may be restricted at times and rerouted to the opposite side of the street. The $202,000 project cost is 86.5% funded by a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant and 13.5% funded by the City of Spokane Valley.

SRTC Planner Quoted In Coal Train Report

One of our Senior Transportation Planners, Ryan Stewart, made the big time with very detailed report from EarthFix, a public media project of NPR, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Boise State Public Radio, Idaho Public Television, KCTS 9 Seattle, KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, Northwest Public Radio and Television, Southern Oregon Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The report is on the possibility of more coal trains coming through Washington and neighboring states and has good angles on vehicle and train congestion, impact to rail lines, bridges, passenger rail and more.
The audio report, below, is interesting, but also be sure to go to the link above to check out the graphics. Lots of information in those.

SRTC Joins With STA For Public Open House

We've been working on Horizon 2040 for about a year now at SRTC, our long term plan for the future of transportation in Spokane County. We're not the only ones looking down the road though. Spokane Transit is also going through a comprehensive planning process with their "STA Moving Forward" initiative.

They deal with transportation and we deal with transportation right? So it seemed to make sense that we join forces for a public open house so people can get information on both of our plans at one place, and see how they work together.
So mark your calendar. Next Wednesday, April 10 is the open house. STA will fill you in on their proposed High Performance Transit Network while we'll be talking about the area's where we feel transportation funds should be spent in the area over the next 20+ years.
The open house is at the Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln St. from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Because it is an open house format, you can come anytime during that timeframe that works for you.
Here's a little more info in case you need it. See you Wednesday.

Airline Charges Not By The Seat But By The Pound

Here's a new concept in purchasing airline tickets; a Samoan airline is giving passengers
is selling tickets not by the seat, but by your weight. Samoa Air is now pricing flights based on the weight of its passengers and their bags. Depending on the flight, each kilogram (2.2 pounds) costs 93 cents to $1.06. And while there are some definite drawbacks to this (I have to disclose my weight when I buy a plane ticket??) I actually see a couple benefits to this:

1.) Every year I tell myself I'm going to lose weight before vacation so I can wear whatever I want and not have to worry about what I eat or drink while on vacation. This might actually encourage me to follow through on this one year. Not only to save some money, but also to save some embarrasment.

2.) I'm a serial overpacker. Going to Hawaii? Yeah, I probably don't need that evening gown and heels but I pack it anyway just to be safe. If I were paying for my luggage by weight though, changes are I'd throw a swimsuit and towel, shorts, sunscreen and a pair of Tevas in a carryon and call it good.

It also looks like it would be more economical. The average American man weighing 195 pounds with a 35-pound bag would pay $97 to go one-way between Apia, Samoa, and Pago Pago, American Samoa. Competitors typically charge $130 to $140 roundtrip for similar routes.

So how is this going to work out logistically? Oregon Live has the details.

Traffic-Heavy Village Removes All Traffic Lights And Signs. So How Did That Work Out?

On SRTC's Facebook page a couple days ago, I posted about a joke that Spokane Valley played on us for April Fool's Day. We were accepting applications for projects our member agencies wanted to construct using funds from what's called the "Congestion Management/Air Quality" program. The deadline was Monday and dozens of applications were coming in. Among them was one from Spokane Valley that requested funds, under their "Straw Hut Initiative," to remove traffic signals from all arterial intersections and add bike lanes, in an effort to get people to use more nonmotorized transportation such as bikes and horses. Wait a minute. Horses?? I read all the way through the application before noticing the "April Fools!" message handwritten at the bottom. Well played Spokane Valley, well played.

But it's no joke in the UK. One English village there has no traffic lights, no signs, no curbs and no painted lines on the roadway. And 26,000 vehicles passing every day through the area, which has heavy pedestrian traffic.


So how bad is the carnage on a daily basis? Not bad at all. And how do drivers know how to navigate the "roundels?" Watch the video.

Spokane City Construction Season Off To Busy Start

While it's actually been going full steam ahead for a little while now, the City of Spokane just sent out  news release saying construction season in the City of Spokane is getting into full swing.
The City has scheduled 32 major street and utility projects for 2013, totaling $47 million in work. A variety of maintenance work is also scheduled, including pothole repair and other pavement repairs; street striping and sweeping; repairs to water services, valves, and hydrants; and work to reline sewer pipes.

For each $1 million in construction, about 25 jobs are created, which means this year’s construction projects will put nearly 1,200 people to work.
The City works to minimize disruption to motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists by coordinating street and utility projects and informing private utility companies when work is scheduled.

A couple of major construction projects already are under way are:

• Francis Avenue. The City will rehabilitate Francis from Division Street to Haven Street this year. Construction between Crestline and Haven is under way now.

• 29th Avenue. Work to rehabilitate 29th Avenue from High Drive to Bernard began in early March. This part of a larger project that started in 2012 to rehabilitate 29th from High Drive to Grand Boulevard.
Other big street projects scheduled this year include rehabilitating:

• 14th Avenue from Lincoln Street to Grand Boulevard.

• Rockwood Boulevard from Cowley to Southeast Boulevard.

• Third Avenue in east downtown from Division to Arthur Streets.
The City also will replace the Lincoln Heights water booster station, replace water mains in portions of Crestline Street, Euclid Avenue, and Kendick Avenue, and begin construction on two tanks to reduce outfalls to the Spokane River from combined stormwater and wastewater sewers, among other things.

There is a link to information on all the City's construction projects for 2013 at www.srtc.org on the home page.

Not Doing So Well At March Madness? Try Population Bracketology Instead

Not doing so well on your March Madness bracket? Well, there's an alternative. The U.S. Census recently released a bracket game of its own pitting 64 cities against each other by population size. Choose wrong and the government will leave that city out of 2020 census (well, OK not really, but you might be uninvited to your friends' next pub-trivia night).


"Population Bracketology" is being called an "addictive pastime for anyone who thinks they know the relative size of every major American city." So, I wasn't surprised at all when I asked my Geographic Information Systems (GIS) guy Kevin if he'd played it and he said yes, and he'd done pretty well.
Here's how it works: Start by choosing your geographic level: metro areas or states. Click on the name in each match-up that you think has the larger population. Green shows a correct answer, red indicates an incorrect answer. When you have opposing names picked for the next round, pick again. See how close you can come to a perfect score of 63. When you are finished, play again or mouse-over results to view the most current population estimates for each pair.

Click here to play. And if you do, let me know how you did. I'll tell you how you stack up against Kevin.

The 5 Greatest Roadblocks to Great Transportation In Our State?

What are the five biggest transportation challenges facing Washington state? That's what former Washington State Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald is asking, and providing his own opinion. His picks include reducing dependence on fossil fuels; using existing transportation assets more efficiently; finding alternatives to the gas tax; fixing the regional transportation planning, decision structures and processes; and embracing transformation through technology.

So how to do all this? Especially efficiently? Mr. MacDonals shares some interesting ideas in this Crosscut article.

Sprague Avenue Sidewalk Improvement Projects Starting Soon

Sidewalk ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) ramp improvements along Sprague Avenue between Havana Street and Fancher Road are expected to start around April 15. The improvements will be constructed in three phases with work hours from 7:00am-3:30pm, Monday through Friday, with overall project completion anticipated in mid-May.


The first phase along Sprague between Havana and the Costco/Lowe's intersection includes upgrading ADA curb ramps on the northeast and southeast corners of the Sprague/Havana intersection, the south side of Sprague at Dearborn Road and Chronicle Road, the southeast corner of Carnahan Road, and the southwest corner of the at Costco/Lowe's intersection.

The second phase involves upgrading ramps on the southeast side of the Costco/Lowe's intersection, the south side of the McKinnon Road and Howe Road intersections, and the southwest corner of the Sprague/Fancher intersection.

The third and final phase is expected to start in early May and will take about five days to upgrade ramps along the north side of Sprague at the Lowe's/Costco, McKinnon and Howe intersections.

The project is 80% funded by a Community Development Block Grant and 20% funded by the City of Spokane Valley. While construction is under way, drivers should expect closures of the curb lane near the work areas, and signs will redirect pedestrians to alternative crosswalks.

Bike Swap Volunteers Needed

The 2nd Annual Spokane Bike Swap is less than two weeks away and organizers are in need of volunteers. The Bike Swap is Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14 this year. If you can help out, you get to pick the dates, times and areas you prefer to work in. Volunteers are particularly needed on Sunday though.

If you can help out, go to http://www.mycommute.org/surveys/24/2013-spokane-bike-swap-volunteer-sign-up to fill out the volunteer signup form.
Proceeds from the event will be used to further the efforts of the Friends of the Centennial Trail.

Volunteer Sighted Guides Needed For Blind Inviduals

Getting from point A to point B can be challenging some days for anyone right? Well imagine being blind and trying to get to work or school or just go grocery shopping everyday. Or going to special events. Inland Northwest Lighthouse has an outstanding volunteer opportunity to become a trained Sighted Guide for individuals who are blind. This is really cool and I'd recommend you do it if you'd like to volunteer but don't have a lot of time to do it.

The contact person for this is Shawn Dobbs, who is on our Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC). I talked to him last week about this and he said they occasionally need sighted people to help folks like himself get to special meetings, especially when he is working as an advocate and talking to elected officials. The beauty of this is that you would get to go interesting places with an intersting person and it's not a full time or even part time job. And it would be immediately rewarding.

Training is April 17 from  1:00-3:30 p.m.   For more information contact Shawn at 509-487-0405 or sdobbs@seattlelh.org. He'll hook you up.

A Little of This, A little of That For Week of April 1

A couple well-traveled routes in our area will be closed for the summer, new data says there's more traffic on the nation's roadways and work on US 195 is moving along. The Spokesman-Review's "Getting There" column has a roundup of all that's happening in area transportation this week.

Snoqualmie Pass Construction Starts This Week

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) starts minor work on the remaining two miles of the Snoqualmie Pass project from Hyak to the Keechelus Dam tomorrow, Tuesday, April 2 through Friday, April 5. Most of the work will be on the shoulders and won’t impact traffic. Work will take place both day and night. This work includes building six new lanes, adding and replacing bridges and culverts, stabilizing rock slopes, extending chain-up and chain-off areas, and demolishing and replacing the snowshed.
More info can be found here.