Council continues bike and pedestrian mobility plan review; staff to return with revised maps and timeline

The Sammamish City Council continued deliberations on the city's Bike and Pedestrian Mobility Plan after a public hearing at its Oct. 21 meeting, asking staff to incorporate several clarifications and to return with a map overlay that more clearly shows how proposed bike and pedestrian projects align with parks and trail planning.

Audrey Sarce, director of public works, and Andrew Spiliotis, senior transportation planner, presented the draft plan and a Q&A summary of public comments. Staff said the plan sets facility types, level‑of‑service goals for pedestrians and bicyclists and a prioritized list of projects to feed into the Transportation Master Plan (TMP) and the six‑year capital improvement program. "We established facility types for our roadways that meet pedestrian and bicyclist level of stress or service," Sarce said, and noted staff plans to embed the plan's outputs into the 2026 TMP update.

The presentation described how the top 10 priority projects were developed: mapping layers (gaps in facilities, levels of traffic stress, proximity to schools, transit and retail, nonmotorized crash density and slope) were scored and weighted and then combined into a composite map to identify corridors with the highest need. Spiliotis walked council through an example on Southeast 30th Street, showing how adding sidewalks on one side and bike facilities would reduce stress levels for cyclists and pedestrians and connect to existing transit and schools.

Public commenters, including several residents and trail advocates, urged stronger emphasis on trails, regional connections (the "Emerald Necklace" concept), clearer connections to parks plan priorities, and more visible crosswalk and lighting standards. James Eastman urged council to prioritize a continuous trail connection from Evans Creek North Park to Sammamish Landing, arguing that past plans had already identified the route and that residents want regional trail connections. Several residents also asked that school access and traffic calming measures receive priority where appropriate.

Council members raised three specific requests for staff before final adoption: (1) clean up a map graphic to clarify jurisdictional limits, (2) split a composite table into separate tables showing existing conditions and proposed recommendations, and (3) provide clearer, measurable performance metrics that staff said will be developed as part of the 2026 TMP update. Deputy Mayor Amy Lam and others asked that staff overlay PROS (parks) plan trail proposals with the bike/ped priority projects to better show where on‑street improvements and off‑street trails complement one another.

Councilmember Kent Treen moved to add two trail projects from the 2005 Trails, Bikeways and Paths plan (projects TBP‑201 and TBP‑202) to the plan docket for further consideration; another council member seconded the motion. The transcript shows the motion was moved and seconded and put to a voice vote (no roll call tally recorded) and staff said they would continue to accept project suggestions as part of ongoing TMP and CIP work. Later in deliberations Treen stated he would withdraw a different motion related to closing the public hearing; staff said the revised draft will be brought back for council deliberation.

City staff said they will prepare the revised draft plan with the three modifications and a new map overlay showing how PROS plan trail priorities and the bike/ped priority network intersect, and return to council in November. If changes are minor, staff will seek adoption at the Nov. 5 business meeting; if additional work is required staff said they would aim for the Nov. 18 meeting. No final adoption occurred Oct. 21.