Snohomish County is a fair sized county when compared to others in the state of Washington, but when you realize that almost all of the development and population exist in the twenty miles that border the water it becomes very small. The Cascade Mountains are beautiful to look at, but they present an impenetrable barrier to expansion. How we accommodate growth in the coming years will be seriously impaired by our geography.
For all intents and purposes Snohomish County is a strip of land forty miles from north to south and twenty miles (give or take) from west to east.
The reason I mention these great facts relates to transportation planning. Currently I-5 serves as our only significant north/south traffic carrying corridor. As long as all the population lives and works in the western five miles of the abbreviated county, everything is okay. As the population expansion pushes development east to the foothills it becomes essential that we provide much better east/west feeder roads and an additional north/south corridor to make sure we have a functional network of roads that does not force everyone to go to I-5 first to get anywhere else in the region.
US Highway 2 transects our county and heads east from Everett to the mountains via Snohomish, Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar and Index. It is the only significant east/west road in the county.
Washington State Route 9 is the existing north/south road that is most likely to be the alternative to Interstate 5. SR-9 is currently being upgraded, but it will not even address existing deficiencies when funded projects are completed. We need to begin to look at SR-9 like a freeway rather than a country road.
With funding for projects scarce, it is imperative that the investments we do make are not wasted by failing to consider the bigger picture by looking at future needs at least in the engineering phase. Upgrades to SR-9 should include plans for “grade separated” intersections so that traffic does not have to stop at every crossing. Traffic signals allow access for crossing or merging traffic but bring through traffic to a halt.
The reason the interstate works as effectively as it does is because traffic doesn’t ever stop intentionally. It keeps moving like blood in our human arteries and veins; remembering that a blockage in our bodies causes heart attack or stroke. The analogy works for traffic just the same.
Transportation planners need to look at SR-9 and engineer for the future rather than the past. The mountains limit our choices for an alternative path so efforts should be focused on making commitments to the right projects that are not obsolete before they are completed.
GRADE SEPARATED INTERSTECTIONS have continuous traffic flow on the mainline and overpasses with different features to accommodate intersections.
If we don’t incorporate this thinking into our planning, we will be squandering millions and millions if not billions of taxpayer dollars.
The other component to this analysis is the incorporation of a rail line into the right of way improvements to accommodate a north/south train service. The scope of the rail service is debatable, but if we are serious about maximizing right of way efficiency a rail system should be in the mix somewhere.
The Eastside rail initiative is beginning to talk about using the existing line from King County to the Snohomish River at Harvey Field for rail traffic of some kind. We should be looking at extending the line right up SR-9 as far as Arlington for now, but on up through Skagit and Whatcom Counties as well. Having a second rail corridor to Canada might even be a good idea.
Remember the phrase of the day for Washington State DOT and Snohomish County transportation planners should be GRADE SEPARATED INTERSECTIONS for SR-9.
The bonus idea is rail service all the way to Canada along SR-9.
The cost of implementing these ideas will only go up as time passes so we better get with the program.
No Loss for Words
“Heart Attack on State Route 9” News at Eleven
by Steve DanaSnohomish County is a fair sized county when compared to others in the state of Washington, but when you realize that almost all of the development and population exist in the twenty miles that border the water it becomes very small. The Cascade Mountains are beautiful to look at, but they present an impenetrable barrier to expansion. How we accommodate growth in the coming years will be seriously impaired by our geography.
For all intents and purposes Snohomish County is a strip of land forty miles from north to south and twenty miles (give or take) from west to east.
The reason I mention these great facts relates to transportation planning. Currently I-5 serves as our only significant north/south traffic carrying corridor. As long as all the population lives and works in the western five miles of the abbreviated county, everything is okay. As the population expansion pushes development east to the foothills it becomes essential that we provide much better east/west feeder roads and an additional north/south corridor to make sure we have a functional network of roads that does not force everyone to go to I-5 first to get anywhere else in the region.
US Highway 2 transects our county and heads east from Everett to the mountains via Snohomish, Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar and Index. It is the only significant east/west road in the county.
Washington State Route 9 is the existing north/south road that is most likely to be the alternative to Interstate 5. SR-9 is currently being upgraded, but it will not even address existing deficiencies when funded projects are completed. We need to begin to look at SR-9 like a freeway rather than a country road.
With funding for projects scarce, it is imperative that the investments we do make are not wasted by failing to consider the bigger picture by looking at future needs at least in the engineering phase. Upgrades to SR-9 should include plans for “grade separated” intersections so that traffic does not have to stop at every crossing. Traffic signals allow access for crossing or merging traffic but bring through traffic to a halt.
The reason the interstate works as effectively as it does is because traffic doesn’t ever stop intentionally. It keeps moving like blood in our human arteries and veins; remembering that a blockage in our bodies causes heart attack or stroke. The analogy works for traffic just the same.
Transportation planners need to look at SR-9 and engineer for the future rather than the past. The mountains limit our choices for an alternative path so efforts should be focused on making commitments to the right projects that are not obsolete before they are completed.
GRADE SEPARATED INTERSTECTIONS have continuous traffic flow on the mainline and overpasses with different features to accommodate intersections.
If we don’t incorporate this thinking into our planning, we will be squandering millions and millions if not billions of taxpayer dollars.
The other component to this analysis is the incorporation of a rail line into the right of way improvements to accommodate a north/south train service. The scope of the rail service is debatable, but if we are serious about maximizing right of way efficiency a rail system should be in the mix somewhere.
The Eastside rail initiative is beginning to talk about using the existing line from King County to the Snohomish River at Harvey Field for rail traffic of some kind. We should be looking at extending the line right up SR-9 as far as Arlington for now, but on up through Skagit and Whatcom Counties as well. Having a second rail corridor to Canada might even be a good idea.
Remember the phrase of the day for Washington State DOT and Snohomish County transportation planners should be GRADE SEPARATED INTERSECTIONS for SR-9.
The bonus idea is rail service all the way to Canada along SR-9.
The cost of implementing these ideas will only go up as time passes so we better get with the program.
Posted in Political commentary, Snohomish, Snohomish County Political Commentary | 1 Comment »