Public Meetings | History of Public Engagement
SR 520 public open houses held on Feb. 5 and 6, 2013
We held two public open house events in Bellevue and Seattle on Feb. 5 and 6, 2013, to share the latest information about SR 520 design and construction progress. Thank you to everyone who attended the events.
If you could not attend or want to learn more, please check out the meeting materials.
Stay tuned for additional upcoming public outreach opportunities.
History of Public Engagement
Since 1997, the effort to replace SR 520 has involved the TransLake Project, the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Project, and then in 2008 the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program with three separate projects: the Pontoon Construction Project, the Eastside Transit and HOV Project, and the I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV Project. For these projects WSDOT and its consultant (EnviroIssues) have led the communications effort and provided technical support to develop and implement the following:
- Provided program information at over 500 public events, including: open houses, drop-in events, community design workshops, fairs and festivals, and community organization briefings. Communicated with over 4,600 individuals on a regular basis, and tracked and responded to over 5,000 comments and inquires received from the public and agencies since 2003. Reached more than 36,000 people at fairs and festivals and other events hosted by the SR 520 Program. Coordinated with over 60 neighborhood associations in Puget Sound and another dozen groups in Grays Harbor.
- Mass communications, including: media releases and briefings, developing and maintaining Web content, providing public comment opportunities for technical documents, writing and issuing regular email updates, developing folios and fact sheets, gathering data and drafting responses to public inquiries, writing and distributing fieldwork notifications, and planning special events such as groundbreakings or other community events.
- Extensive inter-governmental coordination, including: briefings to jurisdictions and legislative committees, outreach to federal delegation staff, assistance with tribal coordination, assistance with funding proposals, and coordination with regional planning and transit agencies. The SR 520 Program coordinates with multiple state and federal agencies, over a dozen regional, county and city jurisdictions, tribal governments, legislative districts and committees, and the state Transportation Commission.
- Agency coordination, including: technical review groups responsible for local, state and federal regulations; special projects such as Washington Park Arboretum mitigation planning and Section 106 coordination for historic and cultural properties; coordinating expert panels on topics such as noise mitigation, aquatic resources, or mitigation planning; and permitting assistance at the local, state, and federal levels.
- Assistance with legislative requirements. To meet the requirements of these bills, EnviroIssues has assisted with design of public processes, developing opportunities for public feedback, coordinating with technical team members to develop clear and concise public materials, and facilitating technical meetings.
- Conducting user research and writing or editing technical reports, including examples such as: managing a survey of SR 520 transit users in 2005, providing reader-friendly review of financial reports, coordinating the development and production of the Catastrophic Failure Plan and the High Capacity Transit Plan, coordinating design and reader-friendly review of executive summary documents and legislative reports and providing on-line feedback opportunities for the public to comment on draft technical reports.
For the SR 520 Program, the communications and public involvement work is summarized in public involvement appendices as part of the environmental documentation for the three separate projects. Links to these documents:
- SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Project – Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Agency Coordination and Public Involvement Appendix
- I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project – Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Agency Coordination and Public Involvement Discipline Report
Final Environmental Impact Statement Agency Coordination and Public Involvement Discipline Report
- Eastside Transit and HOV Project – Environmental Assessment Public Outreach and Tribal and Agency Coordination
- Pontoon Construction Project - Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Agency Coordination and Public Involvement Discipline Report