Free bus passes may be a perk for new homeowners along the 164th Street corridor in Snohomish County.
Bus pass giveaways are among several strategies being considered by county and city officials to alleviate congestion on a roadway that can’t realistically grow any wider.
According to projections from the county public works department, the number of vehicles traveling 164th Street SW/SE each day will increase by nearly 20,000 in the next five years, exceeding the county’s cap on traffic for the roadway.
Public works officials recommended last month that the County Council declare 164th Street at ultimate capacity.
“It means the road is as wide as it will ever get and there is nothing that can be done in terms of capital improvements to alleviate the gridlock,” County Councilman Dave Gossett said. “Before we make the ultimate capacity designation, however, the council wants a plan in place to deal with the traffic problems.”
Council members have asked public works staff from the county and the various cities along 164th Street to come up with a plan by early November to reduce traffic on the roadway. Until then, a temporary ban is in place on developments that add more than two vehicles per evening rush hour.
“You can’t build your way out of gridlock,” Mill Creek interim Public Works Director Scott Smith said. “The county has sought our help to promote transportation ideas.”
They include assessing developers with a Transportation Demand Management Fee, working in conjunction with developers and Community Transit to provide residents in new and established neighborhoods with free bus passes and expanding public transportation services in and around the 164th Street corridor.
“If you look at a map of bus routes, there are a lot of areas in the fastest growing part of the county that have little to no access to public transportation,” Smith said.
Before handing out bus passes and other incentives that encourage drivers to abandon their cars, county and city officials need to establish a plan that makes using public transportation an easy alternative.
Smith and Mill Creek City Manager Tim Burns suggested adding bus routes and park and ride lots around the city and outlying areas as a logical first step.
Keeping in mind that some county and city residents will never abandon their cars, public works is looking at lane configuration and signaling to treat traffic jams between the North Road and Bothell-Everett Highway intersections.
It’s no secret the segment of 164th Street leading into Mill Creek is among the most congested along the corridor.
“The more congested that roadway becomes the more motorists will go looking for alternative routes,” Gossett said. “We need to make improvements on those roads to increase safety for pedestrians as well as motorists.”
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