Transportation Master Plan

Improving How You Get Around Town

The City is developing its first Transportation Master Plan (TMP) which will include both short- and long-range strategies leading to the development of a multimodal transportation system to help achieve the City’s transportation vision and goals over the next 20 years.

The TMP will provide a strategic framework and prioritized investments to help improve how we get around town. In doing so, there are several issues and needs to consider when deciding how and where to spend limited resources. These include:

• Addressing the challenges of growth on the transportation network;
• Promoting safety for all users;
• Developing a long-term, sustainable financing plan;
• Finding a way to achieve a connected road network while maintaining neighborhood character;
• Integrating new technologies; and
• Finding ways to partner with transit agencies, school districts, regional partners, and others to meet the community’s most pressing transportation-related needs.

Draft TMP Now Available!

The TMP Project Team has developed a draft TMP, which is the culmination of extensive community outreach, significant technical data collection and analyses, and City Council input beginning in spring 2017. The Draft TMP documents the community’s goals and priorities for the City’s transportation network. It addresses Sammamish's transportation challenges now and into the future by identifying issues and optimizing multimodal transportation investments in the City. City Council and community input on the Draft TMP will be reviewed and incorporated into a revised TMP, which will be the subject of a future online open house on this webpage in the tools below.

Learn more about the TMP with this presentation that was done at one of the public outreach workshops you'll read more about in the Newsfeed further down. A video of the presentation is below if you prefer viewing and/or listening to reading.

Community Outreach Photos

Q & A: Your Questions, Our Answers

This question was asked on the "About" page by krcx on 5/9/20: It seems that as SE 4th street is being finished it’s extremely narrow. Will there be any bike lanes?

Hello and thank you for the question.  Bike lanes on SE 4th Street are part of the project.  It does seem quite narrow right now.  There will be more space once all of the pavement is placed and is level with the curbs.  The roadway is the City's standard width, however, the raised center median gives the perception of narrowing the roadway and is a tactic used by traffic engineers to encourage driver attention and proper travel speeds. For additional information on this project, please visit: https://www.sammamish.us/government/departments/public-works/current-projects/se-4th-improvements/. 

This question was asked on the "About" page by lscott on 10/18/19: When a major connector road (e.g. Issaquah Fall City Rd) is going to be shut down for a significant period of time (9+ months) the city needs to work with the schools and private businesses that will be most definitely effected by this detour to find solutions to move a significant number of people through that same traffic pattern during the day. Is there anything the city is willing to do to reduce the number of cars going through the detour (i.e., provide a shuttle from one side of the closure to the other)? It just seems that funneling all of that traffic through a significant detour around it is going to cause major delays everywhere! A longer project with less overall impact would be a better option. We would love to hear how the city is working to provide options to commuters impacted by this impending road closure.

While the closure of Issaquah-Fall City Road is impactful, it is unavoidable.  The City of Sammamish is committed to making it as short as possible.  The City has been working with residents and community organizations to communicate the closure well in advance to allow residents the ability to make alternative plans for the closure.  The City, however, is very limited in what it can provide in terms of alternative transportation, as it is not a transit agency.  Similarly, King County Metro does not typically provide mitigation for construction projects.  While Metro has added bus service to critical routes when something like the Seattle Viaduct closure happens, they have not ventured into areas where there are no current bus routes.  An option for certain local trips is Sammamish Community Ride, an alternative transit service that began in June of this year.  See: https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/news/2019/20190618-Sammamish-Community-Ride.aspx.  *Note: The Sammamish Community Ride Program was replaced by Metro Flex in 2023. The previous link will take readers to Metro Flex.

What type of investments would make transit a more convenient option for you? The two options are not enough choices and the question is biased. My selfish answer would be service that covers more of Sammamish since I will NEVER drive up to the Plateau to reach a park-n-ride. Indeed, I have commuted by bus to downtown Seattle and I drove to the Issaquah Transit Center to catch the 214 or 554. But using this poll for any purpose other than cocktail hour conversation seems meaningless since the questions are designed to get the predetermined preferred result.

The questions/quick polls are a way to get feedback from the community in a way that is easy, accessible, and sparks interest in the TMP.  The TMP Project Team has not stated that these are scientific and we do not intend to use the data as such.  The purpose is to hear from the community and understand resident preferences; the TMP Project Team does not have any preferred results.  The data helps us understand what the community feels about broad topic areas and the trade-offs that are inherent in them.  

In addition to the questions/quick polls on the website, the TMP Project Team is implementing several other tools to ensure that we get well-rounded input from the community that is applicable, specific, and meaningful to the development of the TMP.  Two examples of this include a statistically valid survey, which will be deployed in October of this year, and a mapping tool on Connect Sammamish, which mimics the exercise we’re doing with the community at the public workshops. 

All of this input will be part of the comprehensive project record, which includes everything we receive from the community on this planning effort, including workshop results, comment cards, letters, emails, and input received from Connect Sammamish.  This comprehensive look at the community’s preferences will be a major part of the TMP and will serve to directly inform the City Council’s decision to adopt the TMP.

What designs are being considered for the intersection of IPLR and the entry to Elementary School #16, which should begin construction in the next month? The publicly available plans for that school do not include a light or roundabout for that intersection and allow exit from the school only via a right turn.

The City is working closely with the Issaquah School District as it relates to the Elementary School #16 entrance onto Issaquah Pine Lake Road (IPLR) and maintaining the current construction schedule.  The current design is to extend the school driveway to the south and align it with the SE 44th Street intersection.  A temporary signal will be installed at the intersection until the City completes a road widening project along Issaquah Pine Lake Road and finalizes the intersection with a signal or roundabout.  The City is currently in design for this portion of Issaquah Pine Lake Road and is analyzing how both intersections will function together in the future.

Please can there be a narrow walking path between Ebright Park and Big Rock Park along 8th and 216th also? Currently, you feel like you must dive into the ditch when a car comes along. There will be more traffic on these roads once the road at the top of the hill is completed. Yet there are many blind spots on 216th and still no shoulder !!! Please for the safety of all and the use of our parks provide narrow walking shoulders (even gravel will do.)* *Originally posted on the "About" page

The 216th/217th/218th Corridor will be the subject of a study that is currently underway.  Safety concerns will be evaluated in this study.  Furthermore, there is a project identified in the TMP preliminary projects list that addresses safety for all modes of transportation along this corridor, including pedestrians.  The description of this project is as follows, “Widen the road to 3 lanes with a median/two-way left turn lane, bike lanes, curb, gutter, and sidewalk from 212th Avenue SE to SE 4th Street.”  To show support for a particular project, it is recommended that you continue to engage with us on the TMP and, in particular, come to one of the public workshops being held in August.  At these workshops, the community will get a chance to discuss potential projects in Sammamish and vote on which ones they support the City investing in.

Can we get a protected bike lane that has a buffer from the road that is NOT on the street both up and down the hill to the East Lake Sammamish trail? It feels so dangerous to be sharing the road with cars on the way up and down the lake trail. We need two or three ways to get down to the lake (north, south, and middle) without having to travel too far out of the way. I was hoping 212th was going to be that road but the road gets "scary" the farther down the road, you get toward the lake. 24th is another option. There are pretty good bike lanes on the other connector roads around Pine Lake now. The other problem (maybe the most dangerous) is crossing 228th, it would be nice to have an overpass or under tunnel for bikes and pedestrians at a few of the major intersections. 30th and 228th would be really nice to the park and ride. These are the only two major dangerous issues that make cycling to work a bit sketchy. Once on the East Lake Sammamish trail, it is basically paradise now.

The provision of bicycle facilities that are buffered from street traffic and connect between the Plateau and the East Lake Sammamish Trail, requires coordination between the City’s TMP project team and the Parks Department staff to consider how these connections could potentially be made through trail corridors. Maps 9 and 10 of the City’s 2018 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan (PRO Plan), see Pages 135 and 137 of the PDF, show trail concepts that could make the types of connections you suggest.  The TMP will support this inter-departmental coordination, particularly as related to input received from the community relating to these types of off-street trails. 

Your comments about the difficulties for bikes and pedestrians in crossing 228th Avenue are also well-received. The safety and comfort of pedestrians and cyclists crossing major arterials will be discussed in the TMP. To further advocate for projects, it is recommended that you continue to engage with us on the TMP and, in particular, come to one of the public workshops being held in August.  At these workshops, the community will get a chance to discuss potential projects in Sammamish and vote on which ones they support the City investing in.

The picture shows a glorious photo taken by Big Rock Park. It would be so nice to be able to access City Hall from Big Rock Park via a pedestrian trail. Is this in the works? It seems pretty easy. Looks like the council voted not to take some property through eminent domain but not much would be needed. It would be so nice to have this park connected.

The City Council recently considered a trail connection between Big Rock Park and City Hall/Sammamish Commons, but ultimately decided to explore alternative routes, which were reviewed but not pursued due to significant challenges.  This project is currently on hold but may be addressed in the future at a time to be determined.

A lot of conversation has been around the public using mass transportation options such as buses. What is the city doing to assist pedestrians using buses? There are currently limited sidewalks, crosswalks, lighting, or bus shelters. In manner areas, the bus stop is simply a sign placed on the shoulder of a busy arterial road with no other infrastructure to support it. Also, during times of inclement weather, the city has zero plans in place to maintain or shovel snow off of city sidewalks. Is there a plan in place to change this as the pro-mass transit conversation continues?

Access to transit facilities is an important element in facilitating the use of bus transit in Sammamish.  This is an issue at the north end of Sammamish, along Sahalee Way NE, where pedestrian facilities are minimal.  On June 18th, the Sammamish City Council adopted the 2020 - 2025 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which included a capital project to address several issues along Sahalee Way NE.  This project, if constructed, will include pedestrian facilities that will help residents safely and easily access the City's major bus transit corridor, 228th Avenue/Sahalee Way.  

To show support for a particular project, it is recommended that residents continue to engage with the TMP effort, including attending one of the three public workshops being held in August.  

Finally, the City does not clear sidewalks during inclement weather, as limited resources are instead focused on clearing priority areas of the City (e.g. 228th Avenue) for vehicular access, particularly emergency vehicles.

Who is responsible for maintaining SE 48th Street? I live on the Sammamish side and have heard Issaquah is responsible but when I talk to Issaquah people they said it’s Sammamish. Also, why is there no sidewalk or warning sign to alert drivers of the many many pedestrians who use this street?

The City of Sammamish maintains the entire Right-of-Way (ROW) of SE 48th Street.  Recent residential development on the south side of this road (in Issaquah) has built some sidewalks, but gaps still remain.  The City is aware of the sidewalk gaps and has identified a project on our preliminary TMP projects list to address the gap on both sides from Issaquah-Pine Lake Road to 227th Place SE.  To show support for a particular project, it is recommended that you continue to engage with us on the TMP and, in particular, come to one of the three public workshops being held in August.  At these workshops, the community will get a chance to discuss potential projects in Sammamish and vote on which ones they support the City investing in.

Additionally, to report immediate concerns with safety issues, such as signage, it is recommended that you use the City's new app, My Sammamish Fix It, which you can learn more about here: https://www.sammamish.us/i-want-to/my-sammamish/.

Why isn't there a light at the intersection of Beaver Lake Road and 256th out of Klahanie? During the construction on Fall City Road, I hear that we'll have a temporary roundabout there, but I was wondering why we're not getting a permanent one. It's really needed. Thank you!

The intersection of SE Issaquah-Beaver Lake Road and 256th Avenue SE is a large intersection, which currently does not have an all-way traffic control device, just the two stop-controlled side streets.  This intersection is best suited for a roundabout instead of a signal, given the neighboring context and characteristics of the intersection.  A roundabout will also add to the character of this road by allowing for landscaping to be installed.

As part of the Issaquah-Fall City Road (IFCR) project, a temporary roundabout will be installed at this intersection.  This temporary roundabout will eventually be enhanced and turned into a permanent roundabout to control all traffic at this intersection.  The timing of making the temporary roundabout permanent is still being determined but will follow the completion of the IFCR project.  

When will there be a cohesive sidewalk on the entire Issaquah Pine Lake Road?

The City is currently working on the design and Right-of-Way acquisition for a capital improvement project for Issaquah-Pine Lake Road (IPLR).  Sidewalks will be included as part of the IPLR project, and they will fill in gaps between SE Klahanie Boulevard and SE 32nd Way. 

The project is currently under design through 2021. Construction is not scheduled to begin until Phase 2 of the Issaquah-Fall City Road Improvements is completed around 2025.

During the Issaquah-Fall City road closure, can you open the fire lane from Belvedere to Beaver Lake (out of Trossachs) so that school buses to Skyline can avoid the mess that will be the detour route? I fear that my daughter will have increased stress due to later nights and earlier mornings due to the amount of homework and the increased amount of travel time between home and school. Also, her after-school activities that are in Issaquah (3x/week) will be extremely challenging to get to on time. I know there's vocal opposition to opening this barrier to general traffic so perhaps there's a way to limit access to just school buses. For example, some way to remotely open the [sic].

The SE Belvedere Way barricade is one of several barricades in the City of Sammamish.  This particular barricade ends at the western point of SE Belvedere Way with approximately 50 feet of gravel surface between the barricade and East Beaver Lake Drive SE.

These barricades are a known connectivity issue in the City and there is a formal process that would need to take place to remove any barricade in the City, including a significant public outreach process leading to City Council approval.  Therefore, the removal of a barricade, even for a temporary purpose, requires a significant amount of time and resources.  However, the topic of improving connectivity is a significant focus of the Transportation Master Plan (TMP), which will outline how we want to address the most pressing connectivity issues in Sammamish.  The work done in the TMP will lead to a long-term plan for addressing connectivity throughout Sammamish to help improve operations within the City and give drivers more options for getting from their residences to other destinations inside or outside of Sammamish. 

Newsfeed

TMP On Hold

28 Jan 2021
For interested community members, we want to inform you that the TMP effort is currently on an indefinite hold. When there is an update on the project status, we will be sure to provide it here and our other communication channels.

In the meantime, please know that we appreciate your engagement on the TMP and the great ideas that you shared with us! We value your time and effort in collaborating with us to improve mobility in Sammamish!

First Draft of the TMP is now available!

18 May 2020
The TMP Project Team has developed a first draft TMP, which is the culmination of extensive community outreach, significant technical data collection and analyses, and City Council input beginning in spring 2017. The Draft TMP documents the community’s goals and priorities for the City’s transportation network. It addresses Sammamish's transportation challenges now and into the future by identifying issues and optimizing multimodal transportation investments in the City.

Check out the City's first Draft TMP and let us know what you think when we commence a virtual open house this summer! The virtual open house will occur after the TMP Project Team receives additional direction on the Prioritized Projects List (TMP Chapter 4) from the City Council at an upcoming Council meeting to be scheduled. City Council and community input on the Draft TMP will be reviewed and incorporated into a revised TMP for further consideration by the City Council prior to adoption.

TMP Statistically Valid Survey Results

13 Mar 2020
The TMP Survey is available for your review!

The City of Sammamish Transportation Master Plan Survey (“TMP Survey”) gave residents an additional opportunity to provide their opinion about the transportation needs and priorities in Sammamish last fall. It complements the already robust outreach efforts accomplished to date for the TMP. One of the key products of the TMP is a list of prioritized capital projects for the City’s transportation network. Input from the statistically representative sample of the community will be used to refine the prioritized projects list.

 View the full TMP Survey Results.

How was the Survey conducted?

The TMP Survey was administered by mail to 3,000 randomly selected households within the City boundaries in October 2019. Of the approximately 2,938 households that received a survey in the mail (the other surveys were sent to vacant households), 687 surveys were completed, a response rate of 23%. Typical response rates to a broad resident survey of this type generally range from 12% to 30% so we were encouraged by the level of community engagement.

Stay tuned to follow the progress of the TMP and development of the prioritized project list by signing up on Connect Sammamish.

Figure 1: Importance of Various Transportation Master Plan Goals

Survey Question: As the City develops the Sammamish Transportation Master Plan, how important, if at all, do you think it is for the Plan to achieve each of the following goals?

Community Outreach Summary Report Now Available

04 Dec 2019
The TMP Community Outreach Summary Report is now available for your review! This report summarizes all of the input we've received from you and your neighbors about the Sammamish transportation network and future transportation projects.

Read about the many ways that the TMP Project Team interacted with the Sammamish community to inform the TMP. Now the focus shifts to developing the first draft of the Plan, an exciting next step in the process of adopting the TMP.

Thank you for all your time and energy invested in the TMP! Your involvement will make the TMP a strong document that best represents our community's priorities for transportation.

TMP Input Tracker - UPDATED!

03 Dec 2019
Throughout our outreach efforts for the Transportation Master Plan (TMP), we’ve been recording all the input received from our in-person and online exercises. We first shared that data with you in late September. As community input continued via Connect Sammamish and other methods, the TMP Project Team has been updating the TMP Input Tracker. This version of the TMP Input Tracker contains all input through November. Sharing this data is part of our desire to be transparent and to keep the conversation going in the community!

Take a look and see how your favorite projects resonated with your neighbors.

A Few Reminders

The TMP Project Team has categorized all projects by project type (auto, pedestrian, connection, transit, bike), date, method, date of submission, and write-in projects. The projects we have included as City-Identified projects are a subset of a larger project list.

These tallies will be used to help inform our Prioritized Project List that will be included in the Transportation Master Plan.

TMP Input Tracker is Now Available for Your Review!

02 Oct 2019
Throughout our outreach efforts for the Transportation Master Plan (TMP), we’ve been recording all the input received from our in-person and online exercises. Now, we’d like to share that data with the public in an effort to keep the conversation going in the community! Take a look and see how your favorite projects resonated with your neighbors.

We have categorized all projects by project type (auto, pedestrian, connection, transit, bike), date, method and date of submission, and write-in projects. The projects we have included as City-Identified projects are a subset of a larger project list.

How is the Community Input Used?

These tallies will be used to help inform our Prioritized Project List that will be included in the Transportation Master Plan. The net vote that these projects receive will be given a score in a more comprehensive scoring system to help determine the Prioritized Project List.

Some important things to note when reviewing this document:

• The projects shown in the TMP workshop exercise are a subset of a much larger list.
• In both the online and in-person exercises, attendees were free to write in any project they felt was missing. The write-ins were categorized by the project station they were contributed to.
• Write-In Projects were recorded as precisely as possible.
• For the in-person workshops, attendees were given ten dots to show support for a project and one dot to show opposition to a project.
• Attendees were free to vote more than once for the same project.
• The “Workshop Project ID” category in the spreadsheet corresponds to the project numbers in the brochure passed out at the workshop and the “City Project ID” category is the number system the City uses to identify projects. Both systems are for identification purposes only.
• Asterisks in the “Workshop Project ID” category mean that the project requires coordination with other municipalities to complete.
• The total net vote was calculated by subtracting the total “No Tallies” from the total “Yes Tallies”. Every vote was worth a value of one; there was no weighting implemented.
• The Connect Sammamish tallies were recorded on 9/6/19 and then updated on 9/19/19. The contributions after 9/19/19 will be updated once the online component closes on 11/7/19.

We hope you enjoy exploring the data and seeing how your input contributed to the ranking of the projects so far. Also available for review are the comment cards we received- look for the tab at the bottom of the Excel document. Thank you again so much to those who came to our workshops or participated online, your thoughts count and matter to the development of the TMP.

Public Workshops Complete! Thank you!

04 Sep 2019
On August 29th, the TMP Project Team hosted the last Public Workshop for the Transportation Master Plan. We had a great time discussing your ideas, learning about how you get around town, and hearing your thoughts on how to improve the Sammamish transportation system!

We want to say thank you so much to everyone who engaged with us in person at our Workshops and our Pop-Ups! All your input has been recorded and compiled into the Transportation Outreach Master Plan Outreach Summary. Thank you again so much for helping us with this outreach effort for the Transportation Master Plan.

Second TMP Workshop: Complete!

23 Aug 2019
On August 22nd, the City of Sammamish hosted its second of three Public Workshops. It was great getting to meet everyone who came out and we thank you for spending your evening with us! We had great discussions and are working to record your input now! Thank you again for sharing your voice to help improve how you get around town!

If you missed us this week, we will be at Beaver Lake Lodge for our LAST Public Workshop next Thursday, August 29th from 6:30-8:30 PM. We hope to see you there! 

First TMP Workshop: Success!

20 Aug 2019
We had such a great time at our first Transportation Master Plan Public Workshop! We got to hear from Sammamish residents about their thoughts on potential projects and had great discussions on improving how you get around town! We are very excited to talk to more of you at our second of three identical workshops!

Our Facebook event post has additional information. 

We Partied With You at Party on the Plateau (P.O.P)!

20 Aug 2019
We were at the Party on the Plateau with you on Saturday and had some really great conversations about the ways that everyone gets around town! We learned about specific areas in the City, including intersections near schools and neighborhoods off of Issaquah-Fall City Road. Even more, we heard from lots of Sammamish kids about how THEY get around town. The kids had the chance to draw their favorite way to get around town with crayons, and they did not disappoint! These budding artists love to bike, ride scooters, walk, and drive with their parents. They even want to use hoverboards in the future!

Keep the conversation going by coming out to our second of three identical workshops at Blackwell Elementary School on Thursday, August 22!

TMP Workshop Series Begins on Thursday!

09 Aug 2019
This Thursday marks the beginning of our workshop series for the TMP! We will be offering three identical public workshops to hear from you and your neighbors about the worthiness of potential transportation projects throughout Sammamish. Your input will directly inform the TMP by helping us understand community priorities.

The workshops will occur as follows:

Thursday, August 15th at Central Washington University - Sammamish, 120 228th Avenue NE, Sammamish, WA 98074
Thursday, August 22nd at Blackwell Elementary School, 3225 205th Pl NE, Sammamish, WA 98074
Thursday, August 29th at Beaver Lake Lodge, 25201 SE 24th St, Sammamish, WA 98075

The workshop starts at 6:30 and will last until approximately 8:30. Join us for an important and engaging event!

Successful Pop-up Office at Sammamish Farmers Market

08 Aug 2019
We had another great time meeting with you and your neighbors at the Sammamish Farmers Market on August 7th. We heard about your preferences when it comes to walking and bicycling through Sammamish, one of our series of key questions being asked during our outreach effort. Resident responses were split between having greater coverage in sidewalks and bike lanes (i.e. sidewalks and bike lanes covering more of Sammamish) or having higher quality walking and bicycling facilities (e.g. enhanced and protected sidewalks and bike lanes). Keep the conversation going with us by coming to the first workshop next Thursday, August 15th, at 6:30 PM at the CWU-Sammamish building located at 120 228th Ave NE.

Thank you for meeting us at National Night Out!

07 Aug 2019
We met so many great Sammamish residents last night at National Night Out! We heard a range of thoughts and preferences about the TMP and the Sammamish road network. Specifically, we heard about congestion around schools, transit, enforcement, the need for more efficient operations, and much more. These types of conversations help us better understand how we can improve how you get around town. Keep in touch with us and come out to the Farmers Market to talk to us tonight!

Online Community Input Prioritizing Potential Projects

There was a mapping tool previously available on Connect Sammamish that allowed community members to provide feedback on potential transportation projects at specific locations. Community members shared why these projects were important to them, contributed feedback on prioritization, and had the opportunity to suggest additional potential projects for the following types of transportation projects:

• Potential Pedestrian Projects;
• Potential Vehicle Projects;
• Potential Connection Projects;
• Potential Bike Projects; and
• Potential Transit Projects.

Poll