RAMP 10/3 @ 8AM

Agenda 10/3/12

The Fabulich Center

3600 Port of Tacoma Road; 98424

Part I: Candidate Denny Heck

8:00     Welcome, Self-Introductions & RAMP Priorities             

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

8:05     The Future of Transportation in the South Puget Sound Region

            Denny Heck, Candidate for Congress, 10^th CD

8:15     Candidate Heck Q&A

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

Part II: Candidate Dick Muri

8:30     Welcome, Self-Introductions & RAMP Priorities             

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County

8:35     The Future of Transportation in the South Puget Sound Region

            Dick Muri, Candidate for Congress, 10^th CD

8:45     Candidate Muri Q&A

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

9:00     Closing Remarks & Adjourn

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County Executive

           

Next RAMP Meeting

Wednesday, November 7^th - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. – The Fabulich Center

Topic: Legislative Agenda

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.  

US DOT Creates National Freight Policy Council

At Wednesday's RAMP meeting, Carl Seip from Senator Maria Cantwell's office gave an overview of updates on federal transportation policy.

With MAP-21 passing earlier this year, the federal government established a national freight policy and called for the creation of a National Freight Strategic Plan.  However, until recently, there was no clear body implementing these provisions.

Two weeks before the RAMP meeting, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Senator Cantwell came to Puget Sound to announce the the creation of the Freight Policy Council.  The Council will include leaders on highways, rails, ports, and airports with the goal of bringing all modes together to keep the United States' competitive and increase exports.

The full press release from the US Department of Transportation can be found here: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2012/dot9812.html

RAMP 9/5 Handouts from PSRC and City of Tacoma

Handouts from this morning's RAMP meeting have been uploaded below:

- PSRC's "Decisions on MAP-21 for Washington State"
- PSRC's "FHWA Apportionments - Washington State"
- PSRC's "National Highway System in Central Puget Sound"

- City of Tacoma's "State Route 509 & D Street"

RAMP 9/5 @ 8AM

Agenda - 9/5/12

The Fabulich Center

3600 Port of Tacoma Road; 98424

  

8:00     Welcome & Self-Introductions                                  

            John Wolfe, Co-Chair, Port of Tacoma                        

8:05     Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21)

            Charlie Howard, Puget Sound Regional Council

8:20     Federal Transportation Update

            Carl Seip, Senator Cantwell’s Office

8:30     SR 509 to East D Street Slip Ramps

            Jilma Jimenez, BergerABAM

            Tom Rutherford, City of Tacoma

8:45     Round Robin

      

9:00     Closing Remarks & Adjourn

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County

Next RAMP Meeting

Wednesday, October 3^rd - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. – The Fabulich Center

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.

Lane Closures on I-5 around DuPont

From WSDOT:

"Starting next week, motorists will encounter single and multiple lane closures during night hours in both directions of Interstate 5 near DuPont as crews begin a project to replace over 4.5 miles of concrete median barrier.  

Crews will close a single lane of northbound and southbound I-5 between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 4-5, to install construction signs. Barrier work, and multiple night lane closures, will begin the following week. From 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 10 through Friday, Sept. 14, crews will close multiple lanes of southbound and northbound I-5 starting near Berkeley Ave. 

The closures will be repeated in both directions of I-5 in various locations within the project limits through mid-October."

Truckers back completion of SR-167

Several trucking companies from around Washington state joined the chorus calling on lawmakers to complete SR 167, a critical freight corridor of state and national significance. Finishing the remaining six miles to SR 167 from its end in Puyallup to the Port industrial area will improve access to the Port of Tacoma. 

Trucking companies expressing their support for the project include Premier Transport, PCC Logistics, Tacoma Transload and D&B Trucking of Tacoma, Tyson Trucking of Eatonville, American Container Transport of Ellensburg, Truck Force of Vancouver and Truck Express of Covington. 

For more information on SR-167, please see: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/TacomaToEdgewood/

Rail Project Will Improve Flow of Freight

President Barack Obama announced  that a project to improve mainline rail connections near the Port of Tacoma is one of four to be expedited by the federal government. The Point Defiance Bypass in Tacoma will relieve chokepoints near the Port by re-routing passenger rail and improving the flow of cargo to and from the Port. The project has already received $91 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

To better understand how this project improves freight mobility, please see: http://www.portoftacoma.com/govt-affairs

SR 509/East D Street Slip Ramps Open House

From the City of Tacoma:

You’re invited to an open house to learn more about the upcoming State Route 509/East D Street slip ramp project. The open house is scheduled for Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. in Room 405 of the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center (1500 Broadway).

The open house will focus on informing City residents, businesses and property owners in the area about the project features and schedule. The open house will also give participants an opportunity to comment on the preferred design alternative, or two alternatives if a preferred alternative decision has not been made.

The City will lead the design of a street and highway interchange at State Route 509 and East D Street. Once constructed, the interchange will improve freight movement into and from the Port of Tacoma as well as access to businesses on either side of the Thea Foss Waterway and to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) rail yard.

The project is entering the initial stage of selecting a preferred interchange design alternative and preparing the environmental documentation. Comment cards will be available for meeting participants to provide feedback to the project team. Additional project information is available at www.cityoftacoma.org/SR509.

RAMP 6/6 @ 8AM

Agenda - 6/6/12

The Fabulich Center

3600 Port of Tacoma Road

; 98424

8:00     Welcome & Self-Introductions                                  

            Tom Pierson, Co-Chair, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber             

8:05     SR-520 Bridge & Pierce County

            Julie Meredith, WSDOT

8:20     Puyallup River Bridge Construction

            Chris Larson, City of Tacoma

8:35     Port of Tacoma Strategic Plan Update

            Don Meyer, Port of Tacoma Commissioner

8:45     Round Robin

     

9:00     Closing Remarks & Adjourn

            Pat McCarthy, Co-Chair, Pierce County

           

Next RAMP Meeting

Wednesday, September 5^th - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. – The Fabulich Center

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. 

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.

--###--

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.