4. Shoreline Transportation

Note: The Transportation Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan contains a set of goals and policies relating to vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian circulation.

Streets

Goal SA-22: Provide for safe and efficient movement of vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians within the shoreline area, while recognizing and enhancing the unique, fragile and scenic character of the shoreline area.

Policy SA-22.1: Maintain a roadway network which will efficiently and safely provide for vehicular circulation within the shoreline area.

The existing vehicular circulation system in Kirkland’s shoreline area is largely complete, with several major roadways located within the shoreline jurisdiction, including portions of Lake Washington Boulevard NE/Lake Street South and Market Street/98th Avenue NE, as well as neighborhood access streets and driveways. The City should undertake improvements, as necessary, to address needed safety, capacity or efficiency improvements within the shoreline area.

Policy SA-22.2: Enhance Lake Washington Boulevard NE and Lake Street South to improve their function for scenic views and recreational activities, as well as for local access and as a commute route.

Lake Washington Boulevard is designated as a major arterial and provides the major north-south route through Kirkland south of the Central Business District and west of I-405. The Boulevard also provides local access for a substantial number of residential developments and businesses. The Boulevard functions as a major pedestrian and bicycle corridor, serving waterfront park users, joggers, strollers, and Downtown shoppers. The City should continue to manage this network to meet the needs of the broad variety of users, while maintaining the scenic quality of this roadway network.

Traffic along Lake Washington Boulevard and Lake Street South has increased over time, restricting local access to and from these streets and creating noise, safety problems, and conflicts for pedestrians, bicyclists, and adjacent residents. Solutions to these problems should be sought which recognize that these streets have a scenic and recreational function which is as important as their function as a commute route. Improvements to these streets should help accommodate their broader amenity function in such a manner that the safety of all the diverse users is enhanced. Accordingly, the following improvements would be desirable:

♦    Widening of sidewalks or development of landscape strips or landscaped median islands to separate traffic and provide pedestrian safety.

♦ Installation of pedestrian crossings at intersections and adjacent to waterfront parks where safety considerations allow such installation.

♦    Continuation and widening of bicycle lanes.

♦    Limitations on the number of new curb cuts and consolidation of driveways, where possible.

♦ Restrictions on turning movements by installation of c-curbs or other techniques, where needed.

Policy SA-22.3: Design transportation improvement projects within the shoreline to avoid, minimize and mitigate environmental impacts.

Transportation facilities should be designed to have the least possible effect on shoreline features. When planning transportation facilities, both public and private, the environmental impacts of the facility need to be evaluated and minimized, and appropriate mitigation included. Environmental impacts of transportation facilities and services can include wetland and stream encroachment, vegetation removal, air quality deterioration, noise pollution, and landform changes.

Policy SA-22.4: Design transportation improvement projects to maximize opportunities to improve existing shoreline ecological functions.

Transportation improvement projects located within the shoreline should include provisions for shoreline vegetation restoration, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, and low-impact development techniques, where practicable and feasible.

Policy SA-22.5: Design transportation improvement projects to enhance scenic amenities and reflect neighborhood character.

Roadways should be designed to maximize views of the lake, where feasible. Shoreline roadways should also be designed with pedestrian improvements, such as widened sidewalks, and amenities such as benches or view stations and public sign systems that identify significant features along the shoreline such as historic or scenic features, parks and public access easements. In addition, appropriate landscaping and street tree selection should be used for rights-of-way with public views to maintain the views as the vegetation matures.

Policy SA-22.6: Incorporate best management practices into road and utility maintenance activities.

Road maintenance activities are necessary to clean out sediment and debris from drainage systems, which provides benefits to salmon habitat by preventing pollutants and sediments entrapped in stormwater facilities from entering surface or groundwater. The activities can also have adverse water quality impacts, directly affecting aquatic species. In order to minimize any potential adverse impacts, the City road maintenance crews should continue to use best management practices, such as those incorporated into the Regional Road Maintenance ESA Program Guidelines, to guide their maintenance activities. The Regional Road Maintenance ESA Program Guidelines (Regional Program) describe physical, structural, and managerial best management practices designed so that when they are used, singularly or in combination, they reduce road maintenance activities’ impacts on water and habitat.

Pedestrian/Bicycle Circulation

Goal SA-23: Provide the maximum reasonable opportunity for the public to view and enjoy the amenities of the shoreline area.

Policy SA-23.1: Provide a public access system that is both physical and visual, utilizing both private and public lands, consistent with the natural character, private rights and public safety.

Public access includes the ability of the general public to reach, touch, and enjoy the water’s edge, to travel on the waters of the State, and to view the water and the shoreline from adjacent locations. Public access is a key component of the Shoreline Management Act and is one of the preferred uses in the shoreline area and should be encouraged, both in private and public developments and public acquisition.

Developing public access to the shoreline area has long been a priority of the City. Except for single-family residential areas or environmentally critical areas, the City has sought development to provide public access to the water’s edge and along the shoreline as much as possible. Based on this approach, the City has made significant progress towards establishing continuous pedestrian access along the water’s edge along portions of the shoreline.

In addition to these public access easements, the City has, over time, acquired many shoreline properties and designated these properties for park/open space and developed access trails.

Policy SA-23.2: Enhance and maintain pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure within the shoreline area.

Pedestrian and bicycle movement on and off roadways in the shoreline area should be encouraged wherever feasible. Access points to and along the shoreline as well as shoreline recreational facilities should be linked by pedestrian and bicycle pathways developed as close to the water’s edge as reasonable.

The City should work to infill key gaps in existing shoreline access by connect existing pathways and linking existing access points to and along the shoreline, where feasible. In addition, the City should work to complete bicycle improvements by infilling gaps in existing routes and making any necessary safety improvements.

The following identifies some of the key opportunities available to improve public access. Some of the sites are located within the shoreline area, while others located outside the shoreline jurisdiction are represented since they provide an important connection to the shoreline. These connections should be sought, either through a required condition of development, or, where appropriate, through use of public funds to acquire and develop public pedestrian walkways:

♦ Connecting Juanita Bay Park and Juanita Beach Park. The City should seek to complete a public pedestrian walkway along the shoreline from Juanita Bay Park to Juanita Beach Park. Because of the presence of wetlands, the walkway should be designed so as to cause the least impact. The City should also pursue improvements to connect the existing bicycle lanes along Market Street to those on Juanita Drive.

♦ Juanita Bay Park – provide an additional connection from the causeway to the lake if protection of the natural features can be reasonably ensured.

♦ Forbes Valley Pedestrian Facility – provide a sidewalk adjacent to Forbes Creek Drive to connect Crestwoods Park and Juanita Bay Park.

♦ 9th Street West – between Market Street and 20th Street across Juanita Bay Park should be improved for both pedestrians and bicycles.

♦ 10th Street West – connecting Kiwanis Park and Juanita Bay Park.

♦ Waverly Way – should be improved with sidewalk on the west side of the street. View stations at the unopened street ends at 4th Street West and 5th Street West along Waverly Way should also be considered.

♦ Lake Avenue West Street End Park – complete a pedestrian pathway across Heritage Park from Waverly Way to the Street End Park.

♦ In Downtown south of Marina Park. In this area, buildings and parking lots interrupt the shoreline trail system that has been established on adjoining properties. Whenever possible, this shoreline trail system should be completed, in order to build upon this community amenity and open space.

♦ Lake Washington Boulevard NE – gaps in the existing public waterfront trail with connections to the Boulevard should be a required element of all shoreline developments other than single-family homes. Public use areas also should be encouraged adjacent to the westerly margin of Lake Washington Boulevard. The Boulevard is now a popular path for pedestrians, joggers, and bicyclists, and the continued improvement of this corridor as a promenade with wide sidewalks and public use areas, such as benches or view stations, pedestrian scale lighting, and public sign systems, would be a significant public asset.

♦ Juanita Drive – provide safe bicycle and pedestrian facilities along Juanita Drive while maintaining the corridor’s unique natural landscape and protecting the natural environment.

The City of Kirkland Transportation Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan (ATP), together with any additional routes identified in Neighborhood Plans, map most of the bicycle and pedestrian facilities planned for future development. The Capital Improvement budget process prioritizes when routes will receive funding for improvements.

Policy SA-23.3: Require public access to and along the water’s edge and waterfront public use areas with new development or substantial redevelopment, except in limited circumstances.

In general, new development or substantial redevelopment should be required to install a public trail along the entire length of the waterfront with connections to Lake Washington Boulevard at or near each end. Areas which are available for other public waterfront activities also should be strongly encouraged. A public trail should not be required associated with the construction of an individual new single-family residence or where it is demonstrated to be infeasible due to impact to the shoreline environment or due to constitutional limitations.

Policy SA-23.4: Minimize impacts on adjacent uses and the natural environment through the appropriate design of public access. Public access should also be designed to provide for public safety.

Developments required to provide public pedestrian access should be designed to minimize the impacts of the public access to adjoining properties, where possible, such as visually or physically separating the public pedestrian access from adjacent private spaces, or by placing an intervening structural or landscape buffer. The City may permit the establishment of reasonable limitations on the time, extent, and nature of public access in order to protect the natural environment and the rights of others.

In addition, public access trails should be located and designed to assure that users are visible and that pathways are well illuminated, if open in hours of darkness.

Public access through critical areas should be designed to avoid or minimize impacts to critical areas such as wetlands or streams or their protective buffers.

Policy SA-23.5: Cooperate on interagency and public-private partnerships to preserve and enhance water trails along Kirkland’s shoreline where feasible.

The Lakes-To-Locks Water Trail is a day use trail with over 100 public places in a series of lakes and rivers extending from Issaquah to Elliott Bay to launch and land small non-motorized boats. The Lakes-to-Locks Water Trail contains nearly a dozen launch, landing and rest sites along Kirkland’s Shoreline. The City should continue to participate in this type of partnership to increase access and use of the City’s shoreline.

Air and Water Access

Goal SA-24: Provide opportunities for transportation alternatives, such as access by land or water.

Policy SA-24.1: Explore opportunities to establish passenger-only ferry service along Kirkland’s shorelines.

As the roads and highways in the region have increasingly reached full capacity, there has been renewed interest in re-establishing waterborne transportation in Lake Washington, particularly passenger-only ferries. King County has established a countywide Ferry District, which plans to consider the delivery of passenger-only ferry services serving destinations in King County, including a route between Kirkland and Seattle. The City should participate in this effort and ensure that issues affecting the businesses and residents of Kirkland, such as location, traffic and parking, and the shoreline environment, are adequately addressed.

Policy SA-24.2: Allow limited floatplane moorage in commercial shoreline areas.

Floatplanes can be used for both commercial and recreational purposes. Commercial operations can include a variety of activities including air charter and scheduled air operations. These activities are water-dependent and should be permitted within high intensity shoreline commercial districts in limited circumstances, if evaluated through a public review process and where it has been determined that the facility or operation has been designed to minimize impacts, including impacts on native fish and wildlife and their habitat, as well as impacts to shoreline views. Further, the operation of these facilities should ensure protection of adjacent development and uses as well as human safety, including limiting noise and other impacts on residential uses. Floatplane facilities should be located so they do not interfere with public swimming beaches and also maintain safe boating corridors. The floatplane operations should comply with State and federal requirements.

Policy SA-24.3: Limit helicopter landing facilities in the shoreline area.

Helicopter operations are not water-dependent and can include significant environmental issues such as noise pollution. As a result, helicopter landing facilities should not be permitted in the shoreline area, except as needed for emergency medical airlift.