Testing Connectivity Metricsin Bellingham, WA

American Planning Association

Washington State Conference

Kennewick, WA

October 5-6, 2010

Slide 2

Bellingham, WA – “City of Subdued Excitement”

• Bellingham = 77,000 residents• UGA = 9,000 • Whatcom County = 193,000

• Bellingham & UGA contains 45% of Whatcom County’s population

• Bellingham is seat of County government and has 18 of the Top 25 employers in Whatcom County, including:

• Western Washington University• Whatcom Community College• Bellingham Technical College• St. Joseph’s Hospital• Bellingham School District• City of Bellingham• Whatcom County

Slide 3

Multimodal Transportation Concurrency Service Areas

5 Urban Village (Type 1) Green Concurrency Service Areas

• Downtown-Old Town-Fountain Districts

• Barkley Village District• WWU IMP District• N. Samish Way District• Fairhaven Village District

4 Transition (Type 2) Yellow Concurrency Service Areas

5 Suburban (Type 3) Red Concurrency Service Areas

Purpose of the Connectivity StudyPurpose of the Connectivity Study

1. Establish Importance of “Connectivity” as a Metric

2. Establish Citywide Baseline Measurement of Connectivity

3. Explore Means to Refine Multi-modal Concurrency to Include Connectivity

4. Use Connectivity Metrics to Supplement Capital Improvement Feasibility Studies

5. Explore Use of Connectivity to Refine Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans and Prioritize Projects

Bellingham Comprehensive Plan Guidance

• TG-7 Focus on improving traffic circulation and reduce demand for constructing costly system improvements designed to accommodate additional single occupancy vehicle trips.

• TG-16 Identify and commit to connecting ‘missing links’ within the land-based transportation network for all modes of transportation, including pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and motor vehicles.

• TG-18 Identify and analyze low-cost opportunities to increase street connectivity to create better traffic circulation within neighborhoods and throughout the city.

• TP-60 Discourage cul-de-sacs, where topography allows, and encourage well-connected streets in new and existing neighborhoods.

Slide 6

Bellingham’s Transportation Mode Shift Goals

TG-28: Set target goals to increase the mode share of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit trips and reduce automobile trips as a percentage of total trips, as listed below.

Mode 20041 20102 20152 20222

Auto 87% 84% 80% 75%Transit 2% 3% 4% 6%Bike 3% 4% 5% 6%Ped 8% 9% 11% 13%

Notes: 1. 2004 raw data from FTA/Social Data Study2. City/WTA recommendations based on 2004 raw data from FTA/Social Data Study

Citywide Connectivity - Bellingham

Bellingham’s 16 Concurrency Service Areas

Testing Connectivity Quality of Service (QOS) Indices

Connectivity Connectivity Analyses Analyses Focused on Focused on CSAs #9 & #14CSAs #9 & #14

Connectivity by Concurrency Service Area

Measures of Connectivity in Concurrency Service Area #9

Smart Growth Access Safety Active Living

CSA #9 Composite Score & Summary

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Concurrency Service Area #14

Smart Growth Access Safety Active Living

CSA #14 Composite Score & Summary

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Connectivity Benefit - Birchwood Arterial Connector

Interstate 5 = Barrier

Birchwood = New east-west arterial grade-separated beneath Interstate 5 via abandoned railroad tunnel

Connects 900-acre area annexed to city in 2009

New access to Hospital and medical facilities

Significant improvement in EMS, fire, and police response times

New sidewalk, bicycle lane, transit connections

In conjunction with off-street multi-use trail connecting City parks

St Joseph Hospital – Existing Condition

Existing Travel Distance toSt. Joseph Hospital

St Joseph Hospital with Birchwood Multimodal Connector

Expanded Coverage Area –Birchwood Connector

St Joseph Hospital with Birchwood Multimodal Connector

Reduced Travel Distance to St Joseph Hospital

Downtown Library with Birchwood Multimodal Connector

Reduced Travel Distance to Bellingham Library

Technical College with Birchwood Multimodal Connector

Reduced Travel Distance to Bellingham Technical College

Recommendations – Next StepsRecommendations – Next Steps

• Consider Potential Revisions to Connectivity Metric

• Establish Community Values – Weighting Criteria

• Add Connectivity Metric to Multimodal Concurrency Program for Pedestrian, Bicycle, Transit Modes

• Examine Connectivity of Remaining CSAs

• Refine and reconsider citywide Pedestrian and

Bicycle System Needs

• Prepare and Adopt Citywide Pedestrian and

Bicycle System Plans

Slide 21

Bellingham Contact Information

All questions regarding

Bellingham’s transportation planning programs

should be directed to:

 

Chris Comeau, AICP, Transportation Planner

City of Bellingham Public Works Department

(360) 778-7946; or ccomeau@cob.org