RAMP + SCATBd 5/2

 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

Truitt Building, Rainier Room

102 West Main Street, Auburn, 98001

DRAFT AGENDA

1.	Open Meeting & Introductions Dave Hill, SCATBd Chair, Mayor of the City of Algona Tom Pierson, RAMP Co-Chair, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO		8:00 a.m.
2.	Opening Remarks ·         SCATBd Background & Priorities Dave Hill, SCATBd Chair, Mayor of the City of Algona ·         RAMP Background & Priorities o        Pat McCarthy, RAMP Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive		8:05 a.m.
3.	The Future of Transportation in the South Puget Sound Regions ·         Rob McKenna, State Attorney General & Candidate for Governor		8:15 a.m.
4.	·         Candidate McKenna Questions & Answers ·         Closing Statements from Chairs of SCATBd/RAMP		8:35 a.m.
5.	RAMP Round Robin	Report and Discussion	8:45 a.m.

Rob McKenna, Candidate for Governor, Joins RAMP/SCATBd Meeting

PRESS RELEASE

TACOMA, Wash. – Pierce County’s Regional Access Mobility Partnership (RAMP) and King County’s South County Area Transportation Board (SCATBd) are holding a joint meeting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at Auburn's Truitt Building to welcome gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna.

Representatives from public and private agencies throughout the area look forward to hearing Mr. McKenna’s thoughts on how we can move toward a complete system with sustainable funding.

Both RAMP and SCATBd have encouraged the State Legislature and the Governor’s Office to recognize the importance of a fully functional transportation network connecting the entire South Puget Sound region.

Event Details:

Joint RAMP + SCATBd Mtg

8 – 9 a.m.

May 2nd, 2012

Truitt Building, Rainier Room

102 West Main Street

Auburn, WA 98001

No cost to attend.

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RAMP is a regional coalition including business, labor, public and private organizations and citizens dedicated to improved mobility in the South Sound and Washington State.  Our mission is to ensure a healthy regional economy associated with the development of an effective, efficient transportation system and the resources to sustain it.  RAMP is co-chaired by Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, Port of Tacoma CEO John Wolfe and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO Tom Pierson.  For more on RAMP, please visit http://on-ramp.blogspot.com/

SCATBd is a collaborative effort of local elected officials who are committed to improving the regional transportation system.  SCATBd represents an area that encompasses 16 cities, portions of two counties, three transit agencies, the Port of Seattle, nine legislative districts, nearly 700,000 people, and over 300,000 jobs.  SCATBd is currently chaired by Algona Mayor David Hill.  For more on SCATBd, please visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/PlanningAndPolicy/RegionalTransportationPlanning/Subareas/South_County_Area_Transportation_Board.aspx

RAMP Legislative Report

With the state legislature wrapping up another special session with the approval of the operating budget, RAMP prepared a legislative report highlighting transportation items of interest in the South Puget Sound.

RAMP's report (courtesy Pierce County) can be found here.

The report highlights a number of planning projects, appropriations, and selected projects.  Included in this summary are over $4M in FY2013 funding for the continuation of various state projects like the I-5/SR-18/SR-161 connections, SR-167 right-of-way acquisition, JBLM interchange reports, SR-509 environmental evaluation, and the SR-3/SR-304 interchange.  In addition, there is a selected list of transportation bills from the 2012 session.

For the complete picture of transportation funding, we encourage you to review the full report.

SR-16 Closures Announced

LOCATION: Two ramps to close at I-5/SR 16 interchange four nights next week.

DETAILS: Each night from Monday, April 16 through Thursday, April 20, crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close two ramps at the Interstate 5/State Route 16 interchange.  During the closures, crews will do work preparatory to implementing an extended three-month closure of the northbound I-5 exit to the Tacoma City Center (Exit #133).

Specifically, crews will close the following two ramps:

Northbound I-5 to the Tacoma City Center (Exit #133).  Closure hours will be 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.   Motorists will be detoured via Exit #132.

Eastbound SR 16 to northbound I-5.  Closure hours will be 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m.  Motorists will be detoured via the South 56^th Street interchange.

MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the SR 16 Eastbound Nalley Valley project, please visit www.tacomatraffic.com.

RAMP Report 4/4

It was a full house on April 4th as 70 people joined RAMP & SCATBd to discuss transportation priorities with former Congressman Jay Inslee, candidate for Governor.

After Chamber President & CEO Tom Pierson opened the meeting, Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy and Algona Mayor Dave Hill provided overviews of the priorities of the two groups.  Both representatives highlighted the common themes in South King County and Pierce County.

The region is reliant on the movement of freight to maintain its role as an economic driver.  Between the Port of Tacoma and the industrial lands of Pierce and South King Counties access must be able to efficiently move goods and people.  As highlighted in the RAMP legislative priorities, maintenance of existing facilities and the completion of SR-167 play a large role in this potential.  The completion of SR-167 to the Port is expected to add approximately 80,000 jobs in the region.

Candidate Inslee explained to those in attendance how critical he sees construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure to the entire state's economy.  He noted that around 40% of all jobs in our economy are tied to freight mobility.  With this in mind, the path to job growth is through the transportation system.

For Mr. Inslee, this included giving people options for commuting to free up existing capacity as well as expanding current capacity.  He noted that SR-167 would help in this regard as well as projects like the Stampede Pass Expansion.  As a State Representative from eastern Washington, Inslee worked on the Selah Gap overpass that eventually led to signficant economic gains for Yakima.  He also highlighted his work on securing funding for the TIGER III funding for the JBLM area.  He believes that working on both the federal and state transportation levels will serve him well as governor.

During the question and answer period, Jay Inslee noted the need to work on a number of issues at the state level.  This included:

• Prioritizing transportation projects that will create jobs - like SR-167
• Creating local government funding options for local transportation projects
• Recognizing that improving public transportation options will free up road capacity for others

RAMP + SCATBd 4/4

RAMP + SCATBd Joint Meeting 

AGENDA  -  April 4, 2012

The Fabulich Center

3600 Port of Tacoma Road

; 98424

8:00     Welcome & Self-Introductions                                  

            Tom Pierson, RAMP Co-Chair, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO

            Dave Hill, SCATBd Chair, Mayor of the City of Algona

8:05     RAMP Background & Priorities

            Pat McCarthy, RAMP Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

8:10     SCATBd Background & Priorities

            Dave Hill, SCATBd Chair, Mayor of the City of Algona/

            Pete Lewis, SCATBd Vice-Chair, Mayor of the City of Auburn

8:15     The Future of Transportation in the South Puget Sound Region

            Jay Inslee, former US Representative & Candidate for Governor

8:35     Candidate Inslee Q&A

            John Wolfe, RAMP Co-Chair, Port of Tacoma CEO

8:45     Round Robin

            Pierce Transit

            WSDOT

            Legislative Update

            Metro Transit

            Others…

     

9:00     Closing Remarks & Adjourn

            John Wolfe, RAMP Co-Chair, Port of Tacoma CEO

           

Another Joint RAMP + SCATBd Mtg:

Wednesday, May 2nd - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. – TBD

RAMP is a regional coalition including business, labor, public and private organizations and citizens dedicated to improved mobility in the South Sound and Washington State.  Our mission is to ensure a healthy regional economy associated with the development of an effective, efficient transportation system and the resources to sustain it. RAMP is co-chaired by Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, Port of Tacoma CEO John Wolfe and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber President & CEO Tom Pierson. 

The South County Area Transportation Board (SCATBd) is a collaborative effort of local elected officials and agency representatives who are committed to improving the regional transportation system. SCATBd represents an area that encompasses: 16 cites, portions of two counties, three transit agencies, the Port of Seattle, and nine legislative districts.