Consultants tell council: adopt a downtown vision first, then fund phased infrastructure

Public Works Director Mike Sleven introduced a study session on municipal infrastructure and funding and handed the presentation to consultants Paul Fusil and Fun Wang. The consultants framed infrastructure broadly — underground utilities, roadway cross‑sections, sidewalks, street trees, lighting, stormwater systems and the city assets and staff that maintain them — and tied infrastructure choices to the City’s 2026–2030 strategic priorities for economic vitality, mobility and a sustainable built environment.

They presented four case studies to show how coordinated public investment can attract private development: South 216th corridor improvements that facilitated access to waterfront and regional employers; Duval’s Main Street transformation that started as undergrounding and yielded storefront revitalization and tourism benefits; Langley’s raised plaza and integrated stormwater solutions that created a programmable public space; and Burien/152nd and Redmond’s downtown reorganization where new streets, two‑way conversions and a downtown park helped unlock investor interest. Across examples the consultants stressed that infrastructure projects succeed when they pair design standards, zoning clarity and a long‑term funding strategy that layers grants and local matches.

Council members raised common tradeoffs: undergrounding is “transformative but annoyingly expensive,” converting state routes into main‑street environments requires tradeoffs with regional traffic function, and projects should preserve delivery/access for businesses. Presenters recommended a phased approach: adopt the strategic plan, inventory downtown infrastructure, identify priority zones (where targeted undergrounding and streetscape upgrades matter most), and create an illustrated vision that helps staff win grants and coordinate implementation. They described grant mosaics — combining federal, state and local funds with targeted city matches or bonds — and emphasized maintaining clear maintenance responsibilities to avoid long‑term liabilities.

Deputy Mayor Jean Oxiger and other council members asked for clarity about timing and whether to pause projects until the strategic plan is finalized; presenters said planning is relatively inexpensive and helps the city sequence grants and projects and reduces the risk of disconnected, hodgepodge investments.

Next steps presented to council: adopt strategic plan language, commission a downtown/subarea inventory and illustrated plan, identify funding priorities and begin phased project packaging to pursue layered grants and targeted public investments.