Issaquah wants feedback on transportation improvements for the future of the city

Issaquah is hosting a survey to collect public comment on their upcoming Mobility Master Plan.

With transportation and traffic cited as one of the most important issues to residents of Issaquah, planning for the future of mobility has become an important goal for the city. To help develop the long-range mobility master plan, an online survey is available until the end of the month for feedback on transportation policy and priorities.

The mobility master plan is a planning document that will identify how the city wants to look in 2041 and outlines actions and policies to build that future. The survey itself is available at issaquah.gov/MMPsurvey.

Stephen Padua, senior transportation planner, said the mobility master plan will be the transportation section of the comprehensive plan, answering questions about how the city will prioritize and achieve its transportation goals.

“How can we better coordinate that with our land use specifically in the Central Issaquah area, where we are planning to grow higher density?” he said.

Right now the city is in the early stages of the project, developing the guiding principals to use going forward. The data collected from the survey will inform how important various elements of transportation are to the community. It will feed into how planners establish weight to each of the guiding principals.

The survey features a draft list of guiding principles put together by staff and a third-party consulting group. Additional questions ask about the issues people have with the transportation system as it stands today.

Once the guiding principles phase is complete, the city will begin looking into the programs, policies and projects for the plan.

The survey will remain open until May 31, and city staff will be reaching out to the community each week asking people to take the time to answer the survey. Staff has already visited the Highlands Transit Center and plans to promote the survey at the Issaquah Transit Center next week.

Staff also will be at the Issaquah Farmers Market on Saturday, May 11, at Pickering Barn.

Padua said the city hopes to be done with the first phase by mid-June, and phase two will be complete by August or September. The staff is working to create a draft plan available for public review at the end of 2019 or by early 2020. The city council will review and vote on approving the plan in mid-2020.