In the past few years, more attention has been paid to the role that our roads and transportation networks play in how our cities feel and function. Town planners, engineers and residents, increasingly frustrated with how poorly thought out transportation systems now impact their day-to-day life, are beginning to understand transportation in a more holistic manner, and comprehending the flow-on effects to local business, recreation, and quality of living.

And so in the past few years, residents have been eager to have their say on big roads and pathway projects in Issaquah and Sammamish – from the redesign of Newport Way to the Eastlake Sammamish Parkway, and the possible removal of barricades on the Plateau.

On Monday, May 3, residents will have their views on what transportation improvements should be made in Issaquah, when the Issaquah City Council holds a public hearing on the proposed 2011-2016 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

The TIP is an annually updated plan for what projects are in the works, and helps the council develop priorities on where transportation money should be spent.

The hearing will be held at the Regular City Council meeting of May 3 which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers located at 135 East Sunset Way. Anyone interested may appear at the public hearing and be heard for or against, or provide comments, regarding the proposed Transportation Improvement Plan.

The city’s Transportation Manager, Gary Costa, said the public hearing was part of regularly scheduled planning process which the city had to complete in order to qualify for state and federal grant money for such projects.

“It’s purpose is to identify what projects we would be interested in pursuing, if we had the money,” he said.

Costa said that the slow economy and tight city budget resulted in several transportation projects scheduled for 2009 delayed until this year or next, but added that the past 12 months had seen a number of projects completed.

These included works in North Issaquah, such as the modification of the intersection at Southeast 56th and 221 Place Southeast, the East Lake Sammamish Parkway roundabout at Southeast 43rd, and road improvements at 12 Avenue Northwest and Northwest Sammamish Road.

The big projects, however, are waiting in the wings – the Interstate 90 under-crossing project which would connect Northwest Gilman Boulevard with East Lake Sammamish Parkway, and the pedestrian and bike link across I-90 onto State Route 900. Both projects have secured full funding from state and federal agencies.

Issaquah City Councilor Mark Mullet, a member of the city’s Transportation Committee, said he was pleasantly surprised how much money had been made available to local governments from the state and federal level to fund transportation works. In a time when money was often too tight to mention, transportation projects were going ahead.

“When it comes to road projects, a lot of the projects here in Issaquah are being funded by state and federal grants,” he said. “They really have followed through on what they said they would do – funding projects that were shovel ready. I guess I feel like money really isn’t the big hurdle at the moment.”

Also benefitting from the eagerness of governments to fund transportation projects at the moment is the Issaquah History Museums Trolley Project. Their plan to connect Gilman Boulevard and Gilman Village with a historic trolley car has received funding from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, supplementing the substantial fundraising of the Issaquah group’s staff and volunteers. They are now awaiting final approval from state agencies before putting the project out to bid.

Mullet said that improving the flow of Front Street between Sunset Way and Gilman Boulevard was essential to “encouraging a vibrant downtown.”

He said the Front Street/Sunset Way intersection needed improving, but conceded any alterations there would be a contentious issue that would require plenty of study and development.

Fellow councilmember and Transportation Committee member Fred Butler said that reconstructing Newport Way Northwest between Maple Street and Sunset Way was a “high priority,” but conceded there was not any funding in place for work there.

Improving the capacity of Newport Way is estimated to cost more than $20 million. Residents might be waiting a while, however. Not until 2015 is any substantial amount budgeted for the project – $6 million, with $500,000 earmarked to be spent in 2012 and just under $1 million scheduled for 2013. The remaining $12.6 million is listed in the city’s TIP documents as being allocated for “future years” beyond 2015.

“It’s a pretty expansive project,” Butler said. “Right now, we are working on an attempt to identify how we want it to look – whether that will be the addition of roundabouts, or traffic signals, or a combination of both.”

Butler and Mullet both agreed that the biggest improvements could come further from the city center.

Mullet said he eagerly awaited the improvement of roads and connections around the Pickering Barn and Costco headquarters north of I-90.

“I don’t think that’s the ideal set up at the moment,” he said. “It’s already hard to move around over there. And once we open it up with the I-90 under-crossing, we need to make sure it works, for car traffic, and for people getting around.”

Mullet said the council had agreed to go forward with studying the possibility of a Local Improvement District (LID) for the area.

Costco approached the city about establishing a LID to build a new east-west road connection near its office headquarters and flagship store. The study will determine the scope and benefits of a bridge, roadway and other transportation improvements to connect Pickering Place with the proposed Interstate 90 underpass, near the US Post Office building on Gilman Blvd., and East Lake Sammamish Parkway. The proposed bridge is identified as a connection between 10th Ave. Northwest and 221st Pl. Southeast, potentially bisecting the city’s Pickering Multiple Use Trail.

Mullet said that should capital improvements take place in the area, Costco had agreed to reimburse the city for the study.

One way the city prioritizes which projects are done is by evaluating the pressures of concurrency – that is, ensuring the city’s infrastructure is developing in line with population and commercial growth.

By that measure, the Eastlake Sammamish Parkway roundabout and I-90 under-crossing project are at the top of the city’s list.

Following them is the redesign of Newport, as well as further improvements to Northwest Dogwood and Northwest Junipers streets, and Rainier Boulevard North, each at a cost of between $1.7 and $2.7 million.

As is the case with almost all transportation projects in the city, when, and if, they happen will depend not just on the city’s finances, but the availability of state and federal grant money.