Tag Archives: Sahalee Way

Sahalee Way project design put off to next year

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Sammamish issued this statement on its website last week:

The Sahalee Way Open House report previously scheduled for the Nov. 17 City Council meeting has been postponed. That report, which will summarize resident comments received at the Nov. 4 Sahalee Way Open House and other public input opportunities, will be scheduled for later this year or early next year. The delay will provide more time for staff to properly tabulate the high volume of comment received and also give incoming City Council members a greater opportunity to take part in the decision process. The city will provide advance notice when the new report date is set.

This is the right decision. As Sammamish Comment previously reported, the City was rushing to approve the contract this year on a schedule that allowed virtually no public input before the decisions were made.

At the Nov. 4 Open House, at the Boys and Girls Club, the turnout was far more than expected. Getting to the tables with the preliminary plans was difficult. Although a few residents complained about the lack of a formal presentation, it’s clear from the turnout and the City comments above that the Open House was useful and productive.

What’s next for Sammamish: balance of 2015 and in 2016

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Although votes are still being counted and the election results won’t be certified until Nov. 24, Christie Malchow and Tom Hornish have been elected to the Sammamish City Council; their Election Night margins were too great for Mark Cross and Tom Vance to overcome. Their vote tallies have only increased each day additional votes have been tabulated.

So the questions become, What’s next? What’s next for the balance of 2015 in what is now a lame duck period of the City Council, and What’s next in 2016?

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City revises Sahalee Way timeline to ensure public role

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Sammamish officials last night reversed course on the timeline for approving the contract for the Sahalee Way road project, followed by public input, and put the cart behind the horse instead of in front.

Additionally, Staff effectively threw out the City Council action October 6, when the Final Work Scope for the $15m project was approved on a 4-2 vote and said it will start from scratch with the design.

Sammamish Comment detailed the controversy and timeline surrounding the project yesterday morning.

The public meeting announced October 6, set for November 4, remains. The plan to have the City Council approve the contract for the consultant Perteet was set for November 3. This has been rescheduled to December 1. A new Council review meeting was set for November 10, by which time Staff will assimilate public comment from the November 4 meeting, which will be 7p-9p at the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center.

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Staff sought to move Sahalee Way road project contract approval to tonight despite protests

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Despite protests at the October 6 City Council meeting by two City Council Members over the Council approving the Final Scope of Work for the Sahalee Way road widening project before a

Nancy Whitten

November 4 public meeting, staff tried to advance contract approval to today’s Council meeting (October 20), emails obtained by Sammamish Comment reveal.

Members Ramiro Valderrama and Nancy Whitten voted against the $15m project, both citing the lack of an opportunity for the public to review the Final Work Scope plans before a vote; and, in Whitten’s case, vociferous opposition to the design itself as inadequate and lacking a climbing lane southbound on Sahalee from SR202. The Final Work Scope was approved at the October 6 Council meeting on a 4-2 vote.

The vote, which was taken under the City Manager’s report and not on the Council agenda under New Business, or even under the Consent Agenda, left no indication to the public that action was going to be taken. Even Council Members didn’t know, complained Valderrama and Whitten.

Valderrama noted that there had been no public meetings since the summer.

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Sahalee Road proposal draws criticism from public, heat between Council Members

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Six Yr TIP Sammamish

Sammamish’s Six Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) includes a proposal to widen Sahalee Way to three lanes from NE 25th north to the City Limits and beyond to SR202, outside the City Limits. This is the red line at the top of the City map. Click on image to enlarge. Source: City of Sammamish.

A plan to widen Sahalee Way from NE 25th north to the Sammamish City limits drew criticism from the public and prompted a heated exchange between council members at the July 7 City Council meeting.

The City Staff presented the proposed Six Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to the Council for approval (which it did), including plans to widen Issaquah-Fall City Road along the eastern border of the Klahanie Annexation Area, a promise made by the City Council in advance of the April 28 annexation vote.

This expensive project–some $23m–drew little comment from the Council, outside of how it will be funded. But the proposed widening of Sahalee Way to three lanes, sidewalks and bike lanes, caused Council Members Ramiro Valderrama and Tom Odell, normally reasonably closely aligned on budget issues, to figuratively come to blows.

Members of the public also criticized the plan.

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