Log Cabin Road remains in the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) until a study demonstrates that the project is unnecessary or that another viable solution can support regional mobility.
At the Transportation Board Police (TBP) meeting on Wednesday, March 8, the members unanimously approved keeping the road connectivity project in the RTP.
The TBP approved the staff recommendations:
Transportation manager Katrina Van Every said the Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) initiated a request for RTP amendments to projects that those required by state or federal law and project list amendments to either add a new project or remove an unimplemented project.
She added that two of the proposed amendments came from Olympia - one is to remove the Log Cabin Road connection and add the Southeast Olympia Street Connectivity study.
According to Van Every, removing the Log Cabin Road connection plan from TRPC's 2045 RTP transportation model would create measurable change in regional mobility.
TRPC hosted a public comment period for the proposed amendments between January 20 and February. Van Every said they received 21 comments from people, organizations, and agencies. "Most of these comments concern the Log Cabin Road connection."
About 19 comments supported removing the Log Cabin Road connection. These came from members of the public, the Woodland Trail Association and Friends of LBA Woods.
Two comments – from a community member and the City of Lacey - opposed removing the Log Cabin Road connection.
Every said the TRPC modeling team compared the regional model travel forecasts with the 2045 project list and a scenario that excludes the Log Cabin Road connection.
She added the analysis showed that without the connection, there would be increasing volumes and decreasing speeds on multiple routes in the vicinity of Log Cabin Road, including:
Van Every noted that the analysis only evaluates the impact of removing Log Cabin Road from the 2045 Transportation Model. It does not identify other possible solutions to regional mobility.
The Log Cabin Road, Van Every said, has regional significance. It was noted in Olympia's comprehensive plan, indicating the need for a study to look at the more comprehensive southeast Olympia street connectivity.
"What we need is a study to be conducted to determine whether the Log Cabin Road connection is needed, or is there another viable solution that can support regional mobility without it being built," Van Every told the TBP members.
She added that if the Log Cabin Road connection project is removed and the Southeast Olympia Street Connectivity Study is added to the RTP, there will be an overall spending reduction of $7.75 million on transportation projects.
But if the road connection plan is maintained in the RTP and the street connectivity study is added, she said there would be an overall expenditure increase of $800,000.
"We have a surplus of funding available so that additional $800,000 can be captured in what we have in the plan,” said Van Every.
Olympia's commitment
Olympia Councilmember Dani Madrone said the city is committed to connectivity. "One of the reasons that we change our comprehensive plan is because the land use in that area has changed considerably since it was originally proposed."
According to Madrone, she talked to the city staff extensively. She noted that Mayor Pro Tem Clark Gilman, who represents Olympia in the TRPC, also agreed with the TRPC staff recommendation. The city council did not object when they discussed the connectivity plan briefly at the council meeting on Tuesday.
1 comment on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Larry Dzieza
This is very disappointing and a breach of the norms. The hundreds of people who worked to STOP the ROAD from desecrating the LBA Woods were told that the reason Log Cabin Road was in the TRPC plan was because it was in the Olympia plan. They removed it. Now the TRPC should remove it as well.
It is absurd to think that any road planner will conclude that fewer roads are better than more roads. That is because they view the world through that particular lens. There is no chance in the world that the study will say more roads won't take pressure off of other roads. Of course it will. It is self-defining logical construct. The study is a show trial.
That is why the community rose up to tell our elected officials there other lenses that express more human and stewardship values of a community that go beyond shaving a few seconds off of car, truck and motorcycles travel times.
We have sacrificed enough of our quality of life and the health of our planet to the peculiar and narrow world view of traffic engineers.
The road should be removed from the regional plans.
Saturday, March 11, 2023 Report this