Professional Staff Organization

January 22, 2019

Campus Master Plan Update 3

Campus Master Plan update for 2019 January Newsletter

On Monday afternoon, Dec. 10. The Seattle city council unanimously adopted the UW’s 2018 Campus Master plan for growth. During this months-long process, the City heard concerns from the broader Seattle community and attached significant conditions (requirements) and requests (suggestions) to the approval of the 2018 UW Campus Master plan. These include:

  • Require UW to provide 150 Affordable Housing Units for faculty and staff earning less than 60% AMI
  • Require UW to provide 300 additional Affordable Housing Units for faculty and staff earning less than 80% AMI
  • Require UW to lower the parking cap from 12,300 spaces to 9,000 spaces
  • Require that the Drive Alone / Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) rate will be reduced to:
    • 15% 1 year after opening of the Northgate Light Rail Station,
    • 13% after opening of the Lynnwood Light Rail Station
    • 12% by 2028.
  • Require that the Burke-Gilman Trail separation improvements be accomplished by 2024.
  • Request that childcare be incorporated in to affordable housing
  • Request for UW to study and pursue a childcare voucher program
  • Request for more bicycle parking facilities in areas where demand is high

The UW Regents will meet on February 14th 2019 to discuss their response to the “conditioned” approval of the 2018 Campus Master Plan.   The Professional Staff organization is following this process closely and especially watching the Regents response to the conditioning of a lower SOV rate as this will likely affect investments in non-driving commute mode shares such as active transportation and the UW Transit “U-Pass” program. Any change in investments and incentives to these programs are likely to have impacts on how professional staff choose to get to campus. Historical UW Transportation survey data shows that when UPASS rates were lower, more staff chose transit to get to/from campus.   It is also notable that some Unionized UW employees will have a free UPASS starting July 1, 2019.

 

References:

City Council Resolution: https://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3768347&GUID=01C5F213-36FF-49F7-8A23-ABC1F7A4B816

The UW Campus Master plan:

https://cpd.uw.edu/campus-master-plan