Print Article

Email the Editor

Suburban Seattle Builders Clear Traffic Concurrency Tie-Up

Before the vote, the county’s “traffic concurrency” rule, which attempts to use traffic volume to determine where new growth can occur, was making building impossible in some unincorporated parts of the county.

Tim Attebery, a government affairs manager for the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, said the rule change potentially could get 3,600 housing units over the concurrency hurdle.

Under the old rule, minor bottlenecks in traffic were enough to stop development in large parts of the county, even when traffic was flowing smoothly overall. The new rule assigns less importance to short traffic tie-ups.

The builders association led the charge to change the methodology by brokering legislation to force the county’s department of transportation to reevaluate the rule. The department was required to provide officials with a list of infrastructure improvements that would open up areas for development. The Master Builders and transportation officials then used those recommendations to devise a better measure of traffic problems.

The builders association received a State & Local Government Affairs Recognition Award for its work on the project.

For more information, e-mail Tim Attebery or call him at 800-522-2209.

go to top