FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2006
Contact: Michele Leslie (206) 587-4819 or mleslie@psrc.org

Diverse Projects Win 2006 VISION 2020 Awards

SEATTLE – The region is recognizing ten projects that have successfully helped to implement VISION 2020, the region's comprehensive growth, economic, and transportation strategy. They will be honored at the Puget Sound Regional Council's annual General Assembly on March 30 at the Westin Hotel Seattle.

The 2006 VISION 2020 Award Winners are:

Chief Sealth Trail
A 3.6 mile trail that runs along the City Light utility corridor in southeast Seattle. The Trail was built and paid for by a private company as a method of recycling clean materials from Sound Transit's Link Light Rail construction in Rainier Valley. The trail connects neighborhoods of Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley to the future light rail line.

City of Arlington Economic Development Plan
A detailed economic development strategy for the city at large as well as four specific planning districts. The plan identifies implementation actions that are supported by the community and will be moved forward under a joint Economic Development Task Force.

Kent Station
This redevelopment project has provided an urban village and an anchor to downtown Kent. The nearly 20 acre development provides a transit hub for bus and commuter rail service, a 14 screen movie theater, a branch of the Green River Community College and has provided the impetus for $40 million of other investments in the downtown area.

Port Orchard Intermodal Terminal
The new terminal was built using an innovative construction process to mitigate environmental impacts, especially on fish, and minimized service disruption. The end product increased capacity on the route, provided access to the mobility impaired, and provides shading of the water for further critical area protection.

Salishan HOPE VI Redevelopment Project
Tacoma Housing Authority's 188 acre redevelopment project increases the density of the original neighborhoods and creates an attractive, racially diverse, and pedestrian friendly environment. The new community features 1,200 new homes, a mixture of affordable rental and owner units, as well as facilities for education and health services and a protected wetland. Private investors are helping finance the project through low-income housing tax credits.

Salmon Habitat Plan
A targeted strategy for recovering the threatened Green/Duwamish River salmon population in concert with other community and growth management objectives. The strategy links the strategic investment in salmon habitat to the general livability of watershed communities via an ecological economics section.

School Transit Education Program
Community Transit established this program to teach students in grades K-12 about the benefits of public transportation. STEP reaches 10,000 students in 17 school districts each year.

Thea Foss Waterway Revitalization Project
This development was made possible by intensive revitalization efforts by the City of Tacoma, including environmental restoration, access and infrastructure improvements, and working with partners to create housing, retail space, and museum space along the esplanade.

Vision for Skykomish
The town's strategy to help the local community and businesses benefit from and thrive during a major environmental clean up process being undertaken by Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The strategy includes concepts for four key development areas in the town and prioritizes projects to support the community, including development of an economic development council, plans for a sanitary sewer system, levee reconstruction and depot restoration.

Winslow Tomorrow
An innovative planning process and visionary urban design plan that will sustain Winslow as the island center of community, culture and commerce while supporting growth and protecting the environment. The planning process was initiated to provide guidance on anticipated capital projects in the downtown area and was overseen by a community congress of 120 citizens.

VISION 2020 is a comprehensive growth strategy for the region for growth management, the economy and transportation. It was adopted by the counties, cities, towns, transit agencies and ports in the central Puget Sound region as a way to work together with common goals, coordinated and planned growth, and wiser use of all of our resources in a strategy to better ensure success in a challenging and changing environment.

The VISION 2020 Awards will be presented at the PSRC's annual General Assembly dinner on March 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Westin Hotel Seattlel. The General Assembly includes mayors, county executives, commissioners and councilmembers representing more than 80 member governments and agencies. The full agenda for the meeting is available online at psrc.org or by calling the Information Center at (206) 464-7532.

PSRC develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth and transportation planning in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. The Council is composed of over 80 county, city, port, transit, tribal and state agencies serving the region. It coordinates the distribution of about $160 million in Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration funds each year. PSRC sets priorities and evaluates the most efficient ways to target those funds to support state and local transportation and growth management plans.

Title VI Notice: PSRC fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. For more information, or to obtain a Title VI Complaint Form, see http://www.psrc.org/about/titlevi/index.htm or call 206-587-4819.