Transportation

The Villages and Lawson Hills have been designed to promote alternative methods of transportation. Both communities are bicycle-friendly and an integrated trail network links all aspects of the community together, making employment centers, school sites, recreational amenities and open space easily accessible to pedestrians. In addition to walking and bicycling, charging stations for electric vehicles will be provided at a number of public parking locations.

YarrrowBay is also committed to mitigating additional traffic produced by The Villages and Lawson Hills. The City of Black Diamond’s traffic consultant conducted an extensive traffic study to identify areas where transportation improvements will be necessary to enhance road conditions and mitigate any additional traffic caused by the MPDs. A total of 46 intersections were studied for these projects, covering a large geographic area that ranges across Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, and other areas within King County. Based on this study, the City’s traffic consultant recommended, and YarrowBay agreed to construct, several transportation improvements within the city. For full details on exactly where these improvements will take place, please consult the map.

To ensure that traffic mitigation keeps pace with development and appropriate improvements are constructed at the appropriate time, YarrowBay has proposed Traffic Monitoring Plans, set forth in Exhibit F [pdf] of the Development Agreements.

Under the terms of the MPD Permit Approvals, the City of Black Diamond will create a regional traffic model to confirm that the steps taken by YarrowBay to mitigate MPD traffic are effective. This system ensures that YarrowBay will responsibly address any additional traffic stemming from new residents and business owners.

Through our proactive approach to transportation mitigation and our careful work with the City to monitor the developments, we can make sure that additional traffic produced by The Villages and Lawson Hills is adequately addressed so that residents of Black Diamond, both current and future, can get where they need to go in a timely manner.