Olympia unveils plan for urban development on key corridors 

Olympia has unveiled a blueprint to guide urban development over the next two decades through its urban corridors policy. The Planning Commission received a briefing on strategies to transform transportation and land use.  

At a commission meeting on Monday, April 21, Michelle Swanson, senior planner with the city's Public Works Transportation, explained that the urban corridors policy is a regional strategy in place since the mid-1990s.

The policy aims to encourage growth along specific arterials in the Thurston region by promoting mixed land use within a five-minute walk. Its goal is to significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled in the area.  

The identified urban corridors include Cooper Point Road, Harrison Avenue and Black Lake Boulevard on the west side; 4th Avenue and State Avenue on the east side; Capitol Way to the south; and Martin Way and Pacific Avenue on the east.  

Swanson shared a vision that centers on creating walkable, transit-friendly neighborhoods, increasing residential density, and introducing a variety of housing types that are close to jobs, services and stores.  

"The streets will be human scale or oriented toward people with wide sidewalks, street trees, landscaping, and street furniture. We have standards in place to require this with new development, the vision also includes slow-flowing vehicle traffic, so the noise and the threat from vehicles have a lower impact on people crossing the street using the sidewalk, people in bike lanes, and the buildings," she said.  

The vision for land use along these streets has a mix of retail, restaurants, entertainment and a variety of other commercial uses and public services. The buildings will be well-designed, fronting the street.  

"We envision that there will also be a mix of housing within a five-minute walk or roll of these streets that will provide sufficient density for these businesses to be economically viable with enough customers within a walking or rolling distance," Swanson added.  

The senior planner noted the urban corridor concept is part of the Regional Transportation Plan, which is created and administered by the Thurston Regional Planning Council.  

"Part of why the urban corridors policy is contained in our comprehensive plan is to ensure that we are consistent with the regional transportation plan," she said.  

Implementation efforts 

Swanson discussed the city's past and ongoing efforts to implement the urban corridors vision.  

About 15 years ago, Olympia joined a regional task force to understand the lack of development along urban corridors. The key finding was that while development costs were similar to the Puget Sound region, local rental rates were significantly lower, making northern developments more economically attractive.  

The task force recommended focusing first on the Martin Way corridor, which showed the most potential for redevelopment.  

In response, Olympia collaborated with Lacey and Intercity Transit to implement a multi-year transit signal prioritization project along Martin Way, allowing transit vehicles to maintain better schedule reliability by giving them longer or priority green lights.  

Looking ahead, the city's Public Works Transportation department has secured a federal grant to redesign the Martin Way corridor from 2028 to 2030.

The project will cover 4th Avenue East from Ralph's Thriftway to the city's eastern limits, near College Street. Scoping will begin late this year or early next, with the design work extending to 2030. Due to the project's scale, it will likely be implemented in multiple phases. 

In recent years, Martin Way has seen significant public and affordable housing investments, including Unity Commons supportive housing shelter. The corridor's infrastructure improvements include separated bike lanes.  

Meanwhile, the city is finalizing the Capital Mall Triangle subarea plan and planned action ordinance, a regulatory effort designed to stimulate private development in the west side urban corridor area.  

Swanson will post a new version of the transportation chapter in Engage Olympia by mid-May. The city council is scheduled to review the draft chapter in a July study session. The transportation chapter includes a section on urban corridors.