Title
Olympia 2045: Draft Transportation Chapter Briefing
Recommended Action
Information only. No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Briefing on the draft Transportation Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan
Staff Contact:
Michelle Swanson, AICP, Senior Planner, Public Works Transportation, 360.753.8575
Presenter(s):
Michelle Swanson, Senior Planner
Background and Analysis:
Broadly, the Comprehensive Plan describes how the City will manage the expected growth in population and employment over the next 20 years.
The City’s Comprehensive Plan is being updated on a chapter-by-chapter basis. This update is a “fine-tuning” update of the existing plan to ensure that we are on track with the overall vision of the plan. For transportation, that vision is of a transportation system in which people can easily get around whether they walk, roll, bike, take transit, or drive. We say “roll” to be specifically inclusive of people who use mobility devices, such as wheelchairs or scooters.
The process so far
We began the update in 2023 by checking in with members of the public and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee on the values and vision for transportation. Throughout 2024 and early 2025 we have made three different drafts of the chapter in response to the feedback we heard from the public and City advisory committees and commissions. All of those drafts, summaries of the feedback, and the raw comments are all posted to the City’s Engage Olympia webpage. We have attached a link to that page if any members are curious to read them.
The City advisory committees and commissions that have helped shape the most recent draft include:
• The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• The Planning Commission
• The Social Justice and Equity Commission
Your feedback
During this meeting, staff will be prepared to take notes on your comments and share them with the City Council in the next phase of this process.
You may consider reviewing the public hearing version of the draft chapter on the Engage Olympia page ahead of time and taking notes on what you have read, so you can come prepared to comment.
Where we’re at in the process
On February 3, 2025 the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the chapter and began deliberating. It will continue its deliberations on February 24, 2025. When the deliberations are over, the commission’s chair will draft a comment letter to the City Council.
On March 27, 2025, staff will brief the Land Use and Environment Committee, a subcommittee of the City Council, on the Transportation Chapter. Later, City staff will brief the full City Council. State law requires that every chapter in the Comprehensive Plan must be adopted by the end of 2025.
At each touchpoint with the City Council, we expect to make changes to the chapter in response to feedback from the Council.
Climate Analysis:
The transportation sector is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Thurston County. The policies in the Transportation Chapter are designed to result in more walking or rolling, biking, and transit use and less driving, which will help us decrease greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled.
”Vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) is a metric often used in the transportation sector. We have goals to reduce VMT in the Comprehensive Plan and the Thurston Regional Transportation Plan.
Equity Analysis:
The transportation system we have inherited makes it difficult for people to get their needs met without having to own a vehicle. Also, because many of the costs of owning a vehicle are fixed, lower-income people pay a much higher percentage of their incomes to own and maintain one.
For the people in Olympia with disabilities that prevent them from driving, investing in sidewalks, crosswalks, curb ramps, and bike infrastructure is vital to helping them get to transit or their destinations.
Additionally, the focus in the plan on rebalancing the transportation system to make it easier for people to walk, roll, bike, and ride transit relative to driving will make the transportation system more equitable than it currently is.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Members of the community have consistently said in a variety of public outreach methods over several years that they want to live in a city in which it is easier to walk or roll, bike, or take transit.
Additionally, many people have shared their thoughts and feedback on the draft plan throughout the process. Summaries of the feedback and the raw comments are available on the Engage Olympia website.
Financial Impact:
Updating the Comprehensive Plan is a major investment in staff resources. Additionally, a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce for $175,000 helped cover some costs, including traffic modeling.
Options:
None - information only
Attachments:
Link to Engage Olympia Transportation Page