Cascadia Report

Category: Seattle

  • Why Seattle needs to plan regionally

    Seattle may be the heart of the Puget Sound region, but the area’s arteries are carrying people further afield.

    Seattle-area population density; by Sightline.orgConsider that that Seattle isn’t much bigger geographically than its Eastside suburbs. It accounts for a steadily smaller share of King County’s population and commuter traffic increasingly heads out of Seattle during the work day. All this means that planning for transportation and housing needs to serve the entire region.

    During last month’s deluge there were many comparison’s to Nov. 1933, the wettest month on record. A Seattle Times story about that era mentioned that Seattle then had 365,000 people, about 200,000 less than now. Meanwhile King County has swelled from 465,000 in 1930 to 1.8 million now. In other words, the city’s share of the total has shrunk to less than a third.

    Traffic patterns have shifted even more. Going from Seattle to work on the Eastside is still considered the “reverse commute,” though in fact more traffic makes the trip. More vehicles go to the Eastside in the mornings during each peak hour (3,830 eastbound vs. 3,710 westbound) and return to Seattle in the evening (4,020 westbound vs. 3,580 eastbound), according to a state Department of Transportation study. Thanks to buses going downtown, more people travel to Seattle in the morning (6,810 westbound vs. 5,850 eastbound) and to the Eastside in the evening (6,390 westbound vs. 6,440 eastbound).

    Some ways to address these patterns? The region could build a relatively inexpensive surface-and-transit replacement for the viaduct freeway, rebuild the 520 bridge for transit, significantly expand light rail and develop the Eastside rail line into a new transit corridor.

  • Downtown Vancouver faces crunch for work space

    Vancouver has been so successful at luring people to live downtown that it may run out of room for new jobs.

    City policies have helped push the downtown population to about 80,000. New data show that the city may run out of space for jobs downtown in as soon as five years. Planners are considering allowing higher towers — which have been limited to protect views — and may offer incentives for office developers.

    Seattle, which often seems to lust after Vancouver’s vibrant downtown, recently okayed zoning rules to allow more residential growth in the city core. But there’s little chance of a space crunch there, thanks to its large area and abundant freeways stretching to the suburbs.

  • New transport head key to regional fixes

    The new leader of the House transportation committee may boost chances for improvement in the Seattle area’s transportation network.

    Rep. Judy Clibborn (41st, Mercer Island) supports long-term transportation investment, for example by voting for a 9.5 cent increase in state gas taxes in 2005 to pay for statewide road and rail projects. During an earlier session she told me via email that, if she had her way, she would raise gas taxes by 20 cents or more in order to finish the projects the region needs. She also supported the idea of widespread congestion pricing.

    Most reports about the appointment focus on how Clibborn opposes replacing Seattle’s waterfront viaduct freeway with a tunnel. She was one of 30 Democrats who signed a letter to the governor stating the obvious — that the state can’t afford the project and still build rail and replace the 520 bridge. The letter was written by House Speaker Frank Chopp, who happens to control appointments in the House and supports a penny-wise, pound-foolish rebuilding of the viaduct.

    But Clibborn’s appointment may make a surface-and-transit replacement for the viaduct possible. She replaces Ed Murray, who is moving to the state Senate and recently penned his own letter to the governor urging a look at the cost and traffic implications of a surface package. When the rebuild-versus-tunnel debate bogs down, let’s hope Clibborn can help steer the toward the the surface option as part of a regional fix .

  • Project aims to bring luxury to Oregon

    A hotel renovation project in Portland aims to create Oregon’s first four-star luxury lodging, the latest in a trend that’s bringing more upscale properties to the region.

    Kimpton Hotels is remaking Portland’s Fifth Avenue Suites according to specifications required for the Mobil Four-Star rating. Predictably, local tourism officials see the project as a step toward that elusive goal of being “world class.”

    “To have a four-star Mobil property in Portland will put us on the map as a luxury destination,” the director of the Oregon visitors association told the Oregonian. “When people think of Portland, and Oregon, they think of us as casual and laid back. But it’s not all hiking and biking and brewpubs.”

    Several similar luxury projects are proposed or underway in Seattle and Vancouver. The new Portland hotel, to be called the Monaco, is supposed to open in 2007 and hopes to get the four-star rating — currently awarded to 119 properties in the U.S. and Canada. Holders of that rating already include Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic and the Bellevue Club. The seven British Columbia properties include the Four Seasons, Metropolitan and Sutton Place hotels in Vancouver, the Aerie Resort in Malahat, Hastings House on Salt Spring Island, Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino and Four Seasons Resort at Whistler.

  • Port consolidation may be back on the table

    The seaports in the Vancouver area may combine forces, a move that could make them more formidable competitors to Seattle and Tacoma.

    The Vancouver Port Authority and two ports along the Fraser River currently operate independently under a federal mandate to generate profit. Combining marketing and land development should help cut costs, though it’s unclear if they can increase productivity compared to Washington’s locally chartered ports.

    The move could revive the issue of cooperation in Washington between Tacoma and Seattle, which have been rivals since the 1860s. Tacoma still has plenty of room to grow but Seattle, which is seeing a decline in traffic, has agitated for years for consolidation among Puget Sound ports.

    At a conference earlier this month in Whistler, the director of Seattle’s seaport, Mark Knudsen, said the region’s ports will be forced to cooperate when each hits capacity and finds fiercer competition from other parts of the continent. Traffic has recently shifted to Los Angeles as space has become available there.

    “The question is if we become local stops or the major international gateway that we aspire to,” Knudsen told the Pacific Northwest Economic Region conference. “Shippers will all call in both Canada and the U.S. The question is if they will be big or small ships and how much discretionary goods will come through here.”

    Cascadia ports should cooperate to improve infrastructure and lower costs. West Coast ports currently move about 3,000 to 5,000 containers per acre each year, compared to a rate of 14,000 to 16,000 for ports in Asia, using virtually the same equipment and software.

  • Seattle study finds that tolls work

    Widespread use of toll roads could cut traffic congestion, according to an eight-month study of drivers in the Seattle area.

    Tolls, especially at peak times, are key to funding new projects and making transit economically viable. But don’t expect them soon. The head of the state Transportation Commission told the Seattle Times that the area has too little experience with tolls and the public won’t accept them. “The politics of that is just too tough,” said Richard Ford, commission chairman.

    In the study, drivers’ dashboards were fitted with electronic devices that tracked their travel, and they were charged virtual tolls ranging from five to 50 cents a mile, according to the paper. Charges were deducted from accounts of between $600 and $3,000 set up for each driver and participants could keep whatever money was left at the end of the experiment. About 80 percent of participants drove less or changed routes and travel times to avoid the highest tolls.

    But incoming state Sen. Ed Murray of Seattle, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said there is already widespread opposition to tolls, even to fund projects like replacing a floating bridge. “This isn’t Amsterdam — this is the West,” he said. “One of the things we have to understand is whether the culture for this (tolls) exists here,” he added. “It doesn’t now. It don’t think that’s going to be easy to overcome.”

  • Seattle newspaper latest target in cross-border deals

    A once-thriving suburban Seattle newspaper has been sold to a Victoria publisher, in the region’s latest cross-border corporate deal.

    B.C. company buys Seattle newspaper, image by PBS.orgBlack Press, owner dozens of papers in British Columbia and Washington, acquired the daily King County Journal, which has a modern printing plant and circulates east and south of Seattle. The paper once dominated the suburbs but has lost at least half of its readership since the early 1990s thanks to hazy focus on the market, cost-cutting and an unambitious Internet presence. Black Press’ plans aren’t clear, but surely the new owner won’t continue the status quo. Deep cuts were announced when it bought a paper in Akron, Ohio.

    The deal widens Black Press’ reach thruough the region. Similar past regional deals include Interfor’s acquisition last year of timberlands and mills in Washington and Oregon, Cray’s purchase of B.C. computer firm OctigaBay in 2004 and Weyerhaeuser’s takeover of MacMillan Bloedel in 1999.

  • Seattle train hub draws closer

    Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels struck a deal to buy King Street Station from the BNSF railroad for $1, making long-delayed renovation of the facility into a passenger hub more likely.

    About a third of the $29 million for the project comes from additional taxes Seattle voters approved earlier this month. It’s hoped that the renovation of the main rooms, entry areas and clock tower will help make train travel between Vancouver and Portland more attractive.

    Eventually the station could be a key part of a regional train network providing an alternative to clogged highways. This could include the slightly used line in the Eastside suburbs that is slated to be replaced by a bike trail.

  • Washington’s renewable-energy law sparks enthusiasm

    Washington’s new requirement that utilities generate more renewable energy is supposed to spell doom for the state’s economy. But someone forgot to tell a business group in Seattle.

    About 60 venture capitalists, private investors and financial-industry types could barely conceal their enthusiasm during a forum last week on investment opportunities in the biofuel industry. The idea is that voter approval of I-937, which requires utilities to generate 15 percent of their energy from non-hydro renewable energy by 2020, is a potential jobs goldmine for the state.

    “This could make Washington a leader,” said John Plaza, president of Imperium Renewables, which recently started building a plant in Aberdeen. Each dollar of investment in biofuel technology stimulates about $2.50 in add-on benefit, he said.

    Those predictions are in stark contrast to the doom prophesized by opponents of the renewable-energy law. The Association of Washington Business said the measure would raise power bills by up to $370 million a year and cost up to 7,100 jobs.

    Presenters at the forum at law firm Preston, Gates claimed opportunities include technology to reduce energy consumption, improve the efficiency of the region’s electrical grid and generate energy from plants such as wheat, soy and algae. One representative of a major regional utility said his company plans substantial investment in the new technology.

    Risks of the new mandata include instability of the tax system, falling oil prices and difficulty siting new plants, participants said. But the law should create incentives to solve some of those problems. For example, Seattle City Light adopted a zero-emissions policy in 2004 and helped create a carbon market in the state, said K.C. Goldon, policy director of Climate Solutions, the nonprofit that sponsored the forum. The utility’s move directly led to development of the first biodiesel plant here, he said.

  • Faster Seattle-Portland trains ahead

    Passenger trains would travel faster between Seattle and Portland under plans reported in today’s News Tribune.

    The new route south of Tacoma would cut the distance and allow faster speeds, shaving six minutes off the total trip by 2010. The move would allow closer coordination with commuter rail in Tacoma and should improve the reliability of passenger service by separating it from tracks used by freight trains.