It’s the Water – It’s the Vision:
Olympia Brewery Site Community Visioning

Thurston Here to There asked the community to imagine what they want next for the former Olympia Brewery site. Leopold Schmidt began brewing beer in 1896 in Tumwater – near the first permanent American settlement on Puget Sound. By 1902, the slogan “It’s the Water” made Tumwater and Olympia Beer nationally famous! In 2003 the Brewery blew the 5 o’clock whistle for the last time. Over 400 employees lost their jobs and the buildings and facilities have sat idle ever since. This site sits in the heart of old Tumwater, along a vital urban area that connects Tumwater Town Center and the State Capitol in Olympia.

Hundreds of community members took part in developing a collective vision for the Olympia Brewery Site. What we heard was:

• Honor the environment, especially the river
• Look for employment opportunities
• Honor the history
• Enhance the community’s connectivity
  to the river
• Increase public access
• Look for recreation opportunities
• Create a place – a community heartbeat

The City is working on a plan to help shape the vision into reality!

The Final Report for the Community Visioning Project – Former Olympia Brewery is available online for viewing.

Learn more about the Community Visioning Project »

Mapping Neighborhoods, One Sidewalk at a Time

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Healthy Kids - Safe Streets
Schools and Families Learn About and Practice Safe and Active Travel Skills

Several years ago this region asked the question – “Why can’t kids walk and bike to school?” Since then citizens, jurisdictions, school districts, and state agencies have worked together to identify resources to take both short term and long term actions with the goal of building a generation of healthy and safe walkers, bicycle and bus riders.

Thurston Here to There supports an expansion of the Walk & Roll program to an additional Tumwater school and two Yelm schools. Students at Peter G. Schmidt will be joined by Michael T. Simmons in Tumwater and Ft. Stevens and Mill Pond in Yelm to receive focused safety education and encouragement to walk, bike, or take the bus to school. This will help decrease the traffic caused by parents dropping students off at schools which results in additional traffic on streets – especially around schools. Decreasing these parent drop-off trips helps reduce congestion on the local street network and clean the air.

School walking route maps will identify the best routes for students walking or biking to school. The process for identifying routes also discloses priority safety improvements to street crossings, sidewalks and bike lanes along the routes. This program encourages students to use the routes and reminds them to practice safe travel skills. 

>> Learn more about the Walk and Roll Program 

Commute Trip Reduction is good for Business
Promoting CTR to Tumwater Business Community

TRPC is expanding the region’s commute trip reduction (CTR) program to small businesses and non-affected public worksites in the City of Tumwater. Staff has visited over 140 businesses such as accountants, hair stylists, law firms, healthcare providers, restaurants, and automotive repair shops along the Capitol Boulevard Corridor, from Southgate Shopping Center to Tumwater Boulevard. The objectives of these efforts are to:

• Increase employers’ and employees’ awareness of commute alternatives (and their benefits) including cycling, teleworking, transit service, carpooling, vanpooling and ride matching programs such as RideshareOnline.com

• Solicit employee participation in a voluntary commute behavior survey

Thirty-two percent of businesses have returned their employees’ surveys. About half of the respondents indicate a willingness to try an alternative commute mode. This survey data provides a baseline for measuring comparisons with future commute behavior data collection efforts along this corridor. Over the next several months, TRPC will conduct similar outreach efforts in the communities of Bucoda, Rainier, Tenino, and Yelm.

To learn more about how CTR is good for business or to review the report, Promoting Commute Trip Reduction: CTR Outreach in Tumwater’s City Center Neighborhood, visit
www.ThurstonCommutes.org.

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ThurstonHeretoThere.org to Launch in 2012
Linking Travel Choices for Thurston Region Residents, Employees, and Visitors

Transportation is a basic human need, but people don’t always know where to find information to satisfy their unique travel demands. Early in 2012, TRPC will launch a new user-friendly website that will offer a variety of traveler resources and tools to enable people to get from here to there, regardless of their age, physical ability, or income level.

ThurstonHereToThere.org will serve as an online portal to highlight a variety of local and regional travel options and services. Topics to be explored on the site will include:

Thurston Region Teleworks

When the Thurston County Commissioners analyzed options for reducing their carbon footprint, they determined that increasing employee telework was the most effective strategy. Supported by the Here to There program, the County just kicked off a telework pilot program.

During last year’s Telework Week promotion, TRPC Executive Director, Lon Wyrick, challenged other community leaders to embrace telework. When Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Secretary of Transportation, Paula Hammond, read Lon’s message, she asked her staff to find ways to increase employee telework. WSDOT’s Public Transportation Division began a pilot this fall, which will expand to other divisions over the next few months, including worksites in Tumwater.

As part of the Here to There efforts, we’re bringing these two organizations together to share best practices, training materials, policy language and growing pains!

We continue to explore telework center concepts in the rural areas, working with elected officials, local telecommunications companies, the regional and state library systems, and the Economic Development Council.

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Capitol Boulevard Corridor Study

The City of Tumwater, Thurston Regional Planning Council, and a consultant team led by MAKERs Architecture and Urban design are partnering on a study to support the transformation of Capitol Boulevard between Southgate and Israel Road. This study will look to promote redevelopment along the corridor; improve the aesthetic appeal of the street; and improve transportation options and safety for walkers, cyclists, and motorists.

In 2011 a survey was sent out to around 4,000 residents living near the corridor. With almost 200 surveys returned, the top ten concerns expressed about the corridor were:

• General Traffic/Congestion
• Crosswalk Safety
• Lack of Bicycle Lanes/Bicycle Safety
• City Parks (need for more)
• Starbuck's Traffic
• State Worker Traffic
• Potholes
• Street trees (need for more)
• Bus stops (frequency, shelters)
• Local Businesses closing

Learn more about the Capitol Boulevard Corridor Study »

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