Bellingham City Council

**2027–2032 Transportation Improvement Program** The TIP is a state-mandated annual document required under RCW 35.77.010 for all cities planning under the Growth Management Act. It programs transportation capital projects for the coming six years and serves as a prerequisite for most state and federal grant applications. Bellingham's 2027–2032 TIP contains 29 projects — the same count as the prior year, since four projects were removed and four new ones added. Public Works Assistant Director of Transportation Tim Holman explained that the TIP has three elements: a cover sheet/introduction, a project list with associated funding tables, and a citywide project map. Projects in years one through three are considered fully funded; those in years four through six carry unknown funding and are typically being developed for grant applications. Four projects were removed from the prior TIP. James Street Multimodal Improvements Sections 3 and 4 and Oldtown Urban Village streetscape improvements are both under construction and expected to complete in 2026. The Downtown Transportation Plan (now renamed the Downtown Connections Plan) is beginning in 2026 and has been fully budgeted and encumbered. The most discussed removal was James Street Multimodal Improvements Sections 1 and 2, running from Birwood Avenue to Telegraph Road. Staff argued the segment was deprioritized because (a) the road was recently repaved and shoulders were widened within the existing road prism, providing marginal multimodal improvement; and (b) a network of alternative parallel routes — including Telegraph Road and Birwood Avenue improvements, the forthcoming Jills Court Trail, and James Street Sections 3 and 4 — provides adequate connectivity for the King Mountain and Iron Gate neighborhoods. The project remains on the 20-year comprehensive plan project list and will return to a future TIP. Four projects were added: a Downtown Connections Plan implementation placeholder; Warf Street Improvements (split from Pine Street, including roadway stabilization and completion of the bike/pedestrian network to Salish Landing Park); Gold Line transit signal prioritization (the first implementation project from the WTA Rapid Transit Locally Preferred Alternative); and a bike rack installation program, converted from operational funding to dedicated transportation fund dollars to preserve the program. The most substantive council discussion involved the use of climate action fund dollars. Council Member Lilliquist noted that the Lincoln Street and Potter Street roundabout project — with a total cost of approximately $2.5 million, over $2 million of which comes from the climate action fund — represents the single largest climate action fund allocation in the TIP, and questioned why a roundabout qualified as a climate action expenditure while other multimodal projects did not. Holman explained that the roundabout's primary driver is transit efficiency: it resolves a bottleneck where WTA's Blue Go Line currently experiences over one minute of delay during bus turnaround maneuvers, a delay projected to grow to six minutes over a 20-year planning horizon. That delay would prevent implementation of 10-minute headways on the Blue Go Line. The roundabout is designed to allow a full transit bus turnaround in seconds. Holman acknowledged the designation is counterintuitive but said the climate office reviewed and accepted it. Lilliquist called the answer "convincing." Council Member Lilliq…

**Adam Bellinger (public commenter, business owner)** Bellinger expressed support for the bike rack program, calling it "additive" rather than requiring trade-offs. He recommended the city be more proactive in placing bike racks rather than waiting for business owner requests, and suggested focusing installation in areas like the north side of Bellingham where they are currently scarce. He expressed skepticism about bike lane projects that require removing vehicle lanes, citing Samish Way traffic backups and Lincoln Street as examples where he believes the trade-offs harm more people than they benefit. **Brian Armstrong (public commenter)** Armstrong expressed disappointment at the removal of the James Street Sections 1 and 2 project from the TIP, arguing that the shoulder improvement is insufficient for families with children and that the alternative routes require a "big loop." He raised concerns about the Greenways Advisory Board's advisory function, arguing that the Warf Street project — which uses greenways funding — was presented to the board as a decided matter rather than a topic for input. He expressed worry that the proposed consolidation of the Greenways Advisory Board and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will further marginalize advisory voices. **Patrick Dods (public commenter)** Dods inadvertently signed up for the public hearing rather than the general public comment period. He acknowledged it was his first council meeting and did not provide substantive testimony on the TIP. **Tim Holman, Assistant Director of Transportation, Public Works** Supported the 2027–2032 TIP as presented, defended the removal of James Street Sections 1 and 2 on grounds of alternative network connectivity and topographic expense, and justified the Lincoln Street/Potter Street roundabout's cli…

**Tim Holman, on the purpose of the TIP:** "Almost every grant transportation grant that we apply for. One of the first questions is it is it on your tip? Um so we put projects on the tip in order to be eligible for grants." **Tim Holman, on the James Street Sections 1 and 2 removal:** "That James Street uh segments one and two is a very expensive project uh from a topographic and environmental standpoint. And so we've decided to pull it out of the six-year TIP, but still keeping it in the 20…

**After this meeting, the following things are specifically different:** 1. **Three Lake Whatcom watershed properties totaling ~99 acres are now under authorized purchase.** Before: properties were subjects of executive session deliberation. After: Mayor is authorized to close all three transactions, adding approximately 99 acres to the watershed preservation portfolio at a combined cost of $1,023,000. 2. **The city is now authorized to join PFAS class action litigation.** Before: no public authorization existed. After: the Mayor is authorized to retain outside counsel to represent Bellingham in class action litigation against PFAS manufacturers. 3. **The Jills Court Trail contract is awarded.** Before: a planned trail corridor, easement acquired 2022, property acquired 2024. After: construction contract awarded to Specialty Equipment Inc. / Neptune General Contractors for $873,428.25. Trail construction can now proceed. 4. **The Middle Fork Spring Open Space Trail grant application is authorized.** Before: no council authorization to apply. After: Council has authorized a $1,470,000 application to the Washington State RCO. 5. **The Tremont Lift Station contract is awarded.** Before: procurement underway. After: Tiger Construction Ltd. under contract for $3,058,400.30. Northern Bellingham sewer capacity expansion can proceed. 6. **The WSDOT local agency a…

--- ### Meeting Overview The Bellingham City Council held its regular meeting on June 1, 2026, with Council President Pro Tempore Hollie Huthman presiding in the absence of Council President Hannah Stone. The meeting featured a public hearing on the city's 2027–2032 Transportation Improvement Program, committee reports covering infrastructure, parks, public safety, and economic development, approval of three Lake Whatcom watershed land acquisitions and a PFAS litigation authorization, and final passage of two ordinances. --- ### Key Terms and Concepts **Transportation Improvement Program (TIP):** A state-required, annually updated six-year plan that lists capital transportation projects a city intends to fund and build. Under RCW 35.77.010, cities that plan under the Growth Management Act must prepare a TIP, hold a public hearing on it, and submit it to the Washington State Secretary of Transportation by July 1 each year. **Multimodal transportation:** Transportation infrastructure that serves multiple travel modes — cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and transit — rather than motor vehicles alone. Bellingham's TIP explicitly scores projects on their multimodal benefits. **Grant eligibility / "Is it on the TIP?":** A practical function of the TIP: most state and federal transportation grants require a project to appear on the TIP before the city can even apply. Being on the TIP does not guarantee funding, but being off it forecloses most grant opportunities. **Funding stack:** The combination of multiple funding sources — local, state, federal grants, transportation impact fees, city street funds — that together pay for a single capital project. Some Bellingham TIP projects draw from six to eight distinct sources. **Transportation Impact Fees:** Fees charged to new development to help pay for transportation infrastructure needed to serve that growth. The 2027–2032 TIP makes these fees a clearly identified line item, a change from prior practice of folding them into general street fund entries. **Quiet zone (railroad crossing):** A railroad crossing designation where additional safety improvements — typically four-quadrant gate systems — allow trains to pass without sounding their horns. The Pine Street Crossing project upgrades that crossing to quiet zone standards. **PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances):** A class of synthetic chemicals used in manufacturing and firefighting foam. Cities and water utilities nationwide are pursuing class action litigation against manufacturers because PFAS contamination affects drinking water systems. The council authorized outside counsel to join such litigation. **Lake Whatcom Watershed Land Acquisition Program:** A city program that purchases private land within the Lake Whatcom watershed to protect Bellingham's primary drinking water source. It is funded by a dedicated charge on city water customers' utility bills. **Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO):** A Washington State agency that awards competitive grants to local governments for parks, trails, and open space acquisition and development. **Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA):** In transit planning, the route and technology option a community officially selects for a rapid transit corridor after studying alternatives. WTA's recently adopted LPA for rapid transit in Bellingham is now generating new TIP projects, including the Gold Line transit signal prioritization project. --- ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role /…