The Kirkland City Council has approved the 2017-22 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Red Steitzer, the City of Kirkland’s capital projects supervisor, presented information about the TIP to the council. He said the city develops transportation projects to complement capital projects the city is pursuing.

He highlighted projects including Totem Lake Boulevard repairs, improvements to the intersection at the entrance to Juanita High School and non-motorized improvements to Lake Washington Boulevard as part of the complete streets program.

Before voting to approve the TIP, the council held a public hearing. Only one resident spoke during the hearing, raising concerns about proposed improvements to the intersection of Northeast 124th Street and 124th Avenue Northeast.

“Wider streets and wider intersections are a step backwards,” Michelle Plesko said, advocating for more space for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The council unanimously voted to approve the TIP, with Councilmember Doreen Marchione absent.

Nearly 60 projects have full or partial funding secured. The total combined cost for these projects is more than $92.2 million, including $3.1 million in federal funding, $1.3 million in state funding and $64.1 million in local funding. The latter also includes contributions from local agencies other than the city and private entities such as developers.

More information about all of the transportation projects in the TIP, which includes unfunded projects, can be found in the agenda packet for the council’s June 20 meeting, available online at www.kirklandwa.gov.

Budget

The council also unanimously voted to update the 2017-18 biennial budget for the city.

Michael Olson, the city’s finance director, gave an update to the council before the vote. He reported that the city’s general fund revenues were $6.2 million ahead of the budget, as the budget process is done with a two-year lag. The total revenue was $2.8 million more than estimated, including $1.8 million in development-related revenue.

The city also came in at $2.2 million under budget for general fund expenditures, due to savings in personnel and professional services costs.

As such, city staff listed $4.6 million in net appropriation changes to the two-year budget. The total appropriation adjustments result in a net budget increase of $16.74 million, with $4.96 million going to the general fund and $11.78 million going to other funds.

The budget adjustments include $500,000 for the IT systems reserve, $307,400 for the Forbes Creek/North Rose Hill basin retrofit, $242,397 for a parks deputy director for operations, $232,447 for an electrical/building inspector, $205,305 for a temporary development engineer, $100,000 for neighborhood access street maintenance and repair, $75,000 for a full-time emergency management coordinator, $50,000 for Peter Kirk Building seismic upgrades and $12,295 for expanded passport service hours, among other changes.

More information about the budget adjustments can also be found in the agenda packet for the June 20 meeting on the city’s website. Video of the meeting is available on the website as well.