Urban Mobility Plan

In May 2007, the Seattle City Council requested the Seattle Department of Transportation develop an Urban Mobility Plan as a solution for replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The Urban Mobility Plan will use a systems approach, including enhanced transit service, surface street and highway improvements and other transportation programs and policies. It will focus on the movement of people and goods to and through Downtown, rather than maintaining vehicle capacity of the existing SR99 corridor.

The plan will:

1) improve mobility and access to and through Seattle’s Center City and

2) replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a surface street along Seattle’s central waterfront.

SDOT is leading this effort, in close coordination with King County and WSDOT through the Partnership Process for the Central Waterfront.

The Plan will be guided by the goals and policies of the City’s Comprehensive Plan, the Transportation Strategic Plan and overall policy direction provided by the City Council through the authorizing legislation.

The Plan expands the solution set from replacing highway capacity in the SR 99 corridor to providing mobility over a larger planning area bounded by:

• 85th Street in the north
• City limit in the south
• Elliott Bay to the west
• Lake Washington to the east

Public Involvement

The success of the Urban Mobility Plan will be dependent upon a public involvement process that is representative, open and transparent. The public involvement process will be closely coordinated with the Partnership Process for the Central Waterfront. It will include:

• Public meetings
• One-on-one interviews with an independent facilitator
• Stakeholder Advisory Committee
• Updates to appropriate legislative bodies

Partnership Process

The Urban Mobility Plan will be incorporated into the City, County and State’s Partnership Process for the Central Waterfront with respect to public process and analytical work. This will:

• Ensure cost effective use of resources
• Provide a clear, open, representative and transparent public involvement approach that uses citizens’ time effectively

The “surface and transit” alternatives developed for the Urban Mobility Plan will be developed in coordination with the Process and will be evaluated along with other alternatives within the Process. The Plan will also be guided by the guiding principles agreed to by the City, County and State. Individual elements or strategies developed for the Urban Mobility Plan may also be incorporated into other alternatives for the SR 99 corridor.

The Urban Mobility Plan is currently scheduled to be delivered to Council in the 3rd Quarter of 2008. The Plan will present recommendations for a surface and transit alternative, including capital projects, operational changes, transit service enhancements, Travel Demand Management programs, and other policy changes. It will also provide planning-level cost estimates and a generalized phasing and implementation plan.

The Partnership will make a recommendation in December 2008.

The City of Seattle, with our consultant partners, has developed a briefing book that provides information about how the transportation system works today, as well as what is known or projected about the future, and how other cities have handled similar challenges.