Gig Harbor Next to Up Traffic Fees

Submitted by Paul Ellis

The Gig Harbor City Council is planning action on a proposal that will increase the city’s traffic impact fee to $3,171 for every vehicle trip a new project creates during the afternoon peak hours.

The proposed increase will generate almost $22 million of the $68.7 million needed for 17 major street projects to be built over the next six years, including widening the roundabout at Borgen Blvd. City Council members could vote on the proposed ordinance December 11th.

The proposal is one of several recently adopted or under consideration by local governments to increase traffic impact fees:

• Pierce County adopted a plan last month to charge $34 to $3,300 per new building, depending on its location and other factors;
• Bonney Lake increased its fee to about $4,000 per trip in August;
• University Place is considering charging as much as $5,000 per trip.

Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Ellis led the Pierce County Transportation Advisory Committee (PCTAC), the communityÂ’s largest transportation planning effort.