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Comprehensive Transportation Plan

What will Auburn look like in 20 years? How will the city grow? We need a plan to guide the growth in a way that meets the community’s needs. Auburn’s Comprehensive Plan is an important tool that guides growth and development to help achieve the community’s vision.

The Comprehensive Transportation Plan is used to help make decisions about the investments in the transportation system, and we want to hear from you about what is important for the Auburn Community, to make sure that we work towards a transportation system that meets the community’s needs.


Background:

Since the adoption of the Growth Management Act by the State of Washington in the 1990s, Cities like Auburn are required to adopt and periodically update a comprehensive plan to address the needs of the city and plan for the expected growth in population and employment for a 20-year period. Minor updates are made to the Comprehensive Transportation Plan between periodic updates, as allowed by State Law.

The last periodic update to Auburn’s Comprehensive Plan took place in 2015, and the City is currently working on the next periodic update, which is to be adopted by December 31, 2024, to address the expected growth through 2044. This is a citywide effort involving subjects such as Transportation, Parks and Open Space, Land Use, Housing, Climate Change, and Utilities.


Vision:

Through public outreach, discussion, and collaboration, the 2015 Comprehensive Plan established a set of visioning words that summarizes the City’s fundamental goals:

Comp Plan Values 

These vision elements will continue to be the guiding principals behind the development of the new 2024 Comprehensive Plan.


Plan requirements:

The Comprehensive Transportation Plan (Plan), adopted by reference in the Comprehensive Plan, must meet specific requirements, as the transportation system is not isolated but instead is part of the regional transportation network. Therefore, the Plan must be consistent with the goals of the regional transportation plan, the county’s planning policies, as well as with neighboring cities. The Plan must also address how to accommodate the increased traffic anticipated from the projected population and employment growth in the 20-year planning period. All elements of the Comprehensive Plan must be consistent with each other, such as land use, utilities, transportation, etc.  The final Comprehensive Plan must be adopted by City Council, and approved by Puget Sound Regional Council, and the State.


Technical Analysis:

An important part of the planning effort is to analyze the current and future conditions of the transportation network, set minimum standards, and identify projects that would help meet these standards. An example of a typical standard established by the Plan is the maximum allowed vehicle delay time at intersections during peak traffic times. If the analysis shows that this standard is not being met under current or future conditions, an improvement project and/or other approaches are identified to address the issue and are included in the Plan.


Policies:

Another important part of the Plan revision is the review and update of transportation policies, which guide future requirements for new construction by private developments and city projects. These policies must align with the Comprehensive Plan Vision, the regional plan, the county policies, and reflect the needs of the Auburn transportation system and community.

A focus of the Plan policies review will be to support multimodal transportation by addressing and meeting the needs of all road users, encouraging travel choices other than driving alone, and to support access to transit by encouraging development near transit service (also known as Transit Oriented Development or TOD). Another focus is equity, and our policies will need to include a review of demographic data for both transportation needs and proposed transportation projects and apply an equity lens to ensure we are considering all potential outcomes of planned projects or programs and if there are any potential unintended consequences.


What’s new?

The current plan includes level of service standards that focus mostly on moving vehicles throughout the City. The new plan will take a modified approach that focuses on moving vehicles, people, and goods, rather than just vehicles. This revised approach is called multi-modal level of service (MMLOS). Examples of MMLOS standards include the level of comfort for bicycle riders along specific roadways based on the location and bicycle facilities available, or the quality and connectivity of pedestrian facilities, such as sidewalks, between key destinations, such as community services or bus stops. The MMLOS standards will help refine previously established pedestrian, bicycle, and freight routes and will consider connections to existing and planned transit services.

While continuing to review and address the needs of the vehicle traffic, these standards will help move the city closer to having a connected network which will provide more mobility options for the community including those who choose or need to travel by modes of transportation other than cars.


Public input:

We want to hear from you throughout this process, to understand your needs and ideas for Auburn’s transportation systems.


 


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View the current Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

For additional questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].


Resources to better understand different sections of the plan:

Our Regional Planning Agency, Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), published a series of videos used in the engagement efforts during the update to the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). While these videos are specific to the regional plan, they are informative and a great resource to understand some of the topics addressed in the City’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan. Additionally, the City’s plan must align with the Regional Transportation Plan policies.


Learn More:

Want to learn more about the City’s Comprehensive Plan, and explore other opportunities for participation on other elements, such as housing, land use, economic development, and more?

Visit Auburn’s Comprehensive Plan Update Website