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Amended transportation plan raises East Side employment cap, signals need for southern interchange
Summary
City consultants and staff presented a Transportation System Plan amendment that increases employment assumptions in the large-lot industrial area to 6,500 jobs by 2040 and identifies near- and long-term roadway projects including roundabout upgrades, Ninth Street extension and a potential southern interchange.
City staff and transportation consultant Matt Kittleson presented an amendment to Redmond’s Transportation System Plan (TSP) that updates employment assumptions for the large-lot industrial area and the resulting roadway project needs.
The 2020 TSP’s earlier employment assumption for the area was about 1,000 employees; the amendment raises that assumption to as many as 6,500 employees by 2040 based on coordination with regional partners, ODOT and Deschutes County. Staff said the higher employment scenario was tested in phasing analyses that show a sequence of triggered projects as jobs increase.
Near-term projects identified include a roundabout at Airport Way and 19th Street (now in the five-year CIP as a single-lane roundabout), expansion of the U–Canal–20th roundabout to dual lanes, access control along Airport Way at 20th, the Ninth Street extension (work recently broken ground), and upgrades to U97 ramps. The analysis also shows the need for a southern interchange to serve large-lot industrial growth once higher employment thresholds are reached; staff said alternatives analysis, environmental review, land-use work and major funding would be required and that ODOT would lead design and construction on the State highway facility.
Staff and the consultant said roundabouts generally reduce crash severity versus signals but noted multi-lane roundabouts introduce more conflict points and design accommodations for large vehicles and pedestrians. The TSP amendment also cleans up errors in the existing document and records ODOT’s alternate mobility-target decisions for South Highway 97 so development triggers and failure thresholds reflect regional planning.
Ending: Staff said adoption steps mirror other master-plan work: notice to DLCD, Planning Commission hearing and City Council hearing. No new SDCs are expected solely from the TSP amendment, but staff said discussions about supplemental area fees for the large-lot industrial employment increase may continue.
