Updated October 9, 2024

Established:  November 2006

Membership: 

Chair:  Susan Harvey
Co-Chair:  Mike Birdsall (GMVUAC Associate Member)
Members:  Warren Iverson, and Peter Rimbos

Mission:  Investigate the area’s transportation issues and offer potential solutions by working with government agencies and community organizations to ensure the Rural Area Stays Rural.

The Joint Transportation Initiative (JTI) was founded in 2013.  Chaired by the GMVUAC Transportation Committee, it is comprised of members from other Unincorporated Area Councils (UACs) and Unincorporated Area Associations (UAAs) within King County to address regional transportation issues and solutions. Current participants are affiliated with:  GMVUAC, Four Creeks UAC (FCUAC), Upper Bear Creek UAC (UBCUAC), Enumclaw Plateau Community Association (EPCA), Green Valley/Lake Holm Association (GV/LHA) and the Soos Creek Action Response (SCAR) Association.

JTI Mission: Investigate regional transportation issues through collaboration with multiple unincorporated organizations.   Develop and offer potential solutions to State, County, regional and local government officials to help maintain the Rural Area’s character and quality of life.

Major Support Activities:The Transportation Committee contributes analysis and comments to the GMVUAC in its response to the following: King County Comprehensive Plan Updates; King County Code Amendments; Countywide Planning Policies (CPP) Updates, and the Puget Sound Regional Council’s (PSRC) Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Update, which (as part of Vision 2050 adopted in 2020) is scheduled to be finalized in May of 2022.

Welcome to Historic Hobart/Ravensdale” Street Signs:  The Transportation Committee investigated how to get signage identifying the boundaries of Ravensdale/Georgetown and of Hobart.  In the Spring of 2020, thanks to the generosity (no charge) of the Department of Local Services (DLS) Roads Division,  Hobart was provided with five “Welcome to Historic Hobart” street signs, placed along roads leading into Hobart, and Ravensdale was provided with four “Welcome to Historic Ravensdale” signs, place along roads leading into Ravensdale.  The signs were placed as close as possible to the historic city limits of both Hobart and Ravensdale, but practicality took precedence and the signs were placed where safest and visibility was best.

was summarized by the following

Merging from Green Valley Road onto SR 169:  The JTI is working with WSDOT to create a safer way for cars merging onto SR 169 from the Green Valley Road.  WSDOT advises us that this project will be completed the Summer of 2023 (or when the weather improves).

Cedar River Landsburg Bridge Construction Closure Impact Study:  In August 2019, King County performed month-long maintenance on the Landsburg Bridge. At the GMVUAC November 4, 2019 meeting, Mike Birdsall, Transportation Committee Vice Chair, gave a presentation on the substantial impact this road closure and detour had on traffic along the Issaquah to Black Diamond Road, SR 169, the City of Maple Valley and the Enumclaw area. Mike produced traffic data illustrating the before and after restrictions that were imposed on traffic and commuter routes. See his detailed report (Birdsall – Landsburg Bridge Closure Traffic Impacts Report) and companion slideshow (Birdsall – Slideshow in pdf Format).

Oakpointe (Formerly Yarrow Bay) Master-Planned Developments: The Black Diamond MPDs comprise a proposed total of 6,050 residences and 1.15M square feet of commercial space. These two MPDs are expected to place a tremendous burden on the regional transportation infrastructure in SE King County and, as such, greatly impacts the unincorporated/rural area along with neighboring cities throughout SE King County. The JTI continues to monitor the development of the MPDs , especially the Traffic-Demand Modeling to predict traffic flows and the subsequent Traffic-Impact Analyses to determine possible mitigations needed to meet road/intersection Levels of Service. A wealth of information on the MPD Conditions of Approval and the development Agreements with the Master Developer (Oakpointe) can be found in Transportation Summary.

196th Ave SE Corridor: From May of 2018 to April of 2019, the Transportation Committee advocated for lowering the speed limit along 196th Ave SE from 40 mph to 35 mph; closing off entry to SE 195th due to the safety hazard;  eliminate the passing lane on SE 188th St; and, lower the speed limit at SE 192nd St and SE 196th St.   In March 2019, King County Road Services agreed to meet with the Transportation Committee in Issaquah for an in-person discussion.  While progress was made to eliminate the passing lane on SE 188th St, the Transportation Committee was unable to get speeds lowered along the corridor.  Road Services did place advisory speed placards and advisory speed revisions for curves at the most critical areas, and cleared vegetation for greater visibility. Please see our Situation-Target-Proposal (STP) to King County Roads: 196th Ave SE STP and our followup with King County: Discussions with King County Roads.

Hobart Area Speed Signs:  The Transportation Committee has worked with the Dept. of Local Services, Road Services Division, to improve safety by decreasing speeding in the Hobart area.  Within the 2018-2019 timeframe, radar speed feedback signs were installed at SE 200th St – Southbound, SE 208th St – Northbound, SE 216th St – Northbound, SE 194th St – Southbound, and SE 198th St – Northbound.

Presentation 1 to KC DLS Director Richardson on 10-7-24; Presentation 2 to KC DLS Director Richardson on 10-7-24

OPUS TRAFFICUS Final Report–The Trouble With Traffic In Rural King County

Opus Trafficus, The Trouble With Traffic In Rural King County presented to Districts 5, 31, and 47 in January 2022.

Priority Locations for Active Transportation Fixes in January 2023.

Regional Summit Meetings: 2014 and 2016

The JTI convened the Transportation Summit Meeting with State and Local government officials and agencies in September 2014–see Situation-Target-Proposals discussed: Usage-Funding Imbalance; Assessing-Requirements-Accurately; Concurrency-Adequacy; and Annexation-Debt-Transfer. The JTI convened a Regional Transportation Meeting with the PSRC in October 2016.  The purpose of this meeting was to acquaint the PSRC with the activities and goals of the unincorporated area councils/associations, and to plan how to best work together in the future.

External Links: (see also King County and Links webpages):

King County (KC):
KC Department of Local Services (DLS)-Roads Division
KCDOT Transportation Needs Report (TNR)
KC Comprehensive Plan (KCCP)
KC Code
Countywide Planning Policies

Regional:
Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Regional Transportation Plan

State (WA):
WA Department of Transportation (WSDOT): Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
Growth Management Act (GMA): Transportation Concurrency Goals

.