Hamilton then enlisted Bellevue traffic consultant Joseph Savage to scrutinize the program. Savage is no populist tree hugger. We have to take snapshots. Mark says that traffic scores are automatically lowered because as roads become congested, people start commuting at other times. But officials clearly view this as a high-stakes case.
Developers have a pretty soft standard to meet, even without help from a computer program.
For example, new housing projects can pass concurrency even if the computer forecast shows them loading county roads to 10 percent over capacity. But county officials emphasize that they don't want to retard growth with rigorous traffic standards. Transportation staffers also note that they are only enforcing the rules politicians set. Back in October, County Executive Ron Sims did order some modest changes that reduced approvals of new development on the Plateau. Sims has also sent the council other changes that could tighten standards, mainly by considering more roads in the concurrency test.