Redmond updates transportation master plan: bike spine, e‑bikes and freight last‑mile strategies

City planning staff on April 8 presented the refined bicycle network and freight chapters of Redmond’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP), advancing a spine‑and‑neighborhood bicycle network, e‑bike promotion, short‑trip conversion targets and new policies to manage freight and last‑mile deliveries.

Carol Helland, the city’s director of Planning and Community Development, introduced the update and said the TMP adoption timeline has shifted to allow chapter‑by‑chapter review; staff now anticipates adoption in spring 2026. Michael Hintz, Transportation Planning Manager, and Senior Transportation Planner Franchesca Liberty led the chapter summaries and responded to council questions.

The bicycle strategy centers on two connected components: a higher‑capacity “spine” network that links neighborhoods to urban centers and a neighborhood network of low‑stress routes and bicycle boulevards to feed the spine. The plan includes outcome targets: a 15% bicycle/micromobility mode share within urban centers and 5% citywide by 2035, intended to help meet greenhouse‑gas and VMT reduction goals. Hintz said the plan prioritizes routes by safety, equity, proximity to destinations, comfort and topography and used trip data (three miles or less) to target corridors that could replace short motor‑vehicle trips with biking.

The chapter lists implementation strategies: rapid‑implementation projects where right‑of‑way allows, traffic calming and neighborhood bikeways, e‑bike incentive or lending programs to address Redmond’s hilly terrain, and improved secure parking for higher‑value e‑bikes. On measuring progress, staff said the city collects annual manual counts at specific locations and is exploring big‑data vendors and permanent counters to improve continuous monitoring: “Big data is continuous. So we can get that data on a continuous basis,” Hintz said.

Council members raised measurement and equity questions, mapping readability and treatment of topographic barriers and intersections with complex traffic patterns. Staff agreed to provide clearer maps (including an existing level‑of‑traffic‑stress map for comparison) and said the street system chapter, due in May, will show how bike and street networks integrate.

In the freight chapter, staff proposed keeping most of the 2013 truck network while excluding two residential streets WSDOT had identified regionally (Northeast 16th and Westlake Sammamish Parkway south of Bear Creek) and clarifying primary vs. secondary truck routes. The freight chapter emphasizes curb‑space management for last‑mile delivery, centralized pickup points to consolidate courier trips, off‑hour deliveries, and policies to prepare for drone delivery as FAA rules evolve.

Planning staff said they will return with transit and street system chapters in May, a pedestrian chapter and transportation demand management chapter in July, and a public review draft in early 2026. No formal action was taken; staff sought council feedback and will incorporate edits and additional maps before subsequent study sessions.