### Meeting Overview The City of Bellingham Transportation Commission met on November 12, 2024, to discuss three major items: an overview of Barkley Urban Village transportation planning, approval of the Community Streets Program, and findings from the Holly Street bike lane pilot project. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Barkley Urban Village:** A planned development that must meet Growth Management Act requirements through a sub-area plan, development agreement, and planned action ordinance to become a formal urban village. **Community Streets Program:** Bellingham's renewed neighborhood traffic safety initiative that rotates through four geographic areas of the city annually, evaluating up to 25 locations per cycle for traffic improvements. **Parking Protected Bike Lane:** A bicycle facility that uses parked cars as a physical barrier between cyclists and moving traffic, tested on Holly Street from State Street to Bay Street. **Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs):** Traffic signals that give pedestrians a 3-7 second head start before vehicles get a green light, reducing pedestrian-vehicle crashes. **Modal Split:** The percentage breakdown of how people choose to travel (by car, bicycle, transit, walking, etc.) in a given area. **Lane Utilization Rate:** The percentage of cyclists who choose to ride in the designated bike lane versus mixing with traffic in vehicle lanes. **Right Hook Conflicts:** Dangerous situations where right-turning vehicles and through-moving cyclists intersect, often due to visibility issues. **Cycle Length:** The total time for a complete traffic signal sequence, which was increased from 56 seconds to 128 seconds on Holly Street to manage congestion. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Addie Candib | Transportation Commission Chair | | Ben Besley | CEO, Talbot Group | | John Moullen | Talbot Group representative | | Amalia Leighton Cody | Planner/Engineer, Toole Design Group | | Shane Sullivan | City Public Works staff | | Natalie Monro | City Public Works staff | | Mike Wilson | City staff | | Darby Galligan | City Planning staff | ### Background Context **Barkley Urban Village** represents a significant development that could serve as a model for sustainable urban growth in the Northwest. The Talbot Group has been working for years with city planners to create an urban village that preserves old-growth trees while providing multimodal transportation options. This development must navigate complex environmental impact requirements and coordinate with existing city transportation plans. **Community Streets Program** fills a critical gap in Bellingham's approach to neighborhood traffic safety. The original program ran from 2001-2009 but was discontinued due to budget constraints. Rising community concerns about residential street safety led to its revival, with emphasis on equitable engagement and data-driven solutions. **Holly Street bike lane pilot** addresses a major gap in downtown Bellingham's bicycle network. As the primary east-west arterial through downtown, Holly Street carried over 400 bicycles per day despite creating high stress conditions for cyclists. The pilot tested two different bike lane designs to inform future permanent improvements. ### What Happened — The Short Version The commission approved the Community Streets Program unanimously after discussing minor modifications including softening the language around the 25-project annual cap and adding a visual timeline. The Talbot Group presented their transportation planning for Barkley Urban Village, showcasing various bike facility designs and explaining how they're preserving forest areas while creating connectivity. City staff presented comprehensive data from the Holly Street bike lane pilot, showing increased bike ridership but significant community concerns about safety and design, leading to the decision to keep bike lanes but redesign them for better visibility and safety. ### What to Watch Next - Transportation Commission will provide formal recommendations on Barkley Urban Village development as it moves through planning commission and city council approval in early 2025 - Community Streets Program implementation begins with community engagement planning for the first geographic area - Holly Street bike lane interim design changes planned for spring 2025, with final capital project design starting in 2025 ---