City of Yakima, Washington Department of Public Works Streets and Traffic Division

Application Process

The Transportation Concurrency Application packet is available from the City of Yakima Permit Center in City Hall, 129 North 2nd Street, Yakima, Washington. You may also download a copy of the application form here. The review fee for the application is $250, payable to the City of Yakima. Please submit a site plan with the completed application form and any other descriptive information you feel necessary.

Traffic Concurrency Application Form

Transportation Concurrency Background
In 1990, voters in the State of Washington passed the Growth Management Act. This Act required local cities and counties experiencing rapid growth the tools to better manage the associated development problems. As our cities grow so does the traffic demands on our streets. In accordance with the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.070(6)(e)) the City of Yakima adopted a Transportation Plan to meet these growing traffic demands through the year 2015. This plan addresses the need to keep traffic flowing efficiently and the overall traffic level of service high.

To comply with state standards, the City of Yakima now requires a Transportation Concurrency Application for review of new developments. This review is designed to measure the impact of new development on our city streets by calculating the approximate increase in traffic generated by the new use. The analysis is limited to a Volume to Capacity Ratio for Arterial Street segments. This information is then compared to existing traffic conditions to determine if the impact of the planned improvements comply with Growth Management standards or if modifications are required before proceeding.

Review Process
Traffic Engineering staff will review the application form and issue a Decision based upon the following steps:

1. The site plan and narrative will be reviewed to determine the nature of the development and exact location. Any questions will be referred directly to the applicant.
2. The first process will be to determine if the application is exempt from Concurrency Review. If the proposed development does not generate at least 10 vehicle trips during the evening peak hour (PM Peak hour of the arterial street), the application is exempt. The Director of Community and Economic Development, in consultation with the Traffic Engineer is responsible for determining other exemptions.

The following list of “Thresholds for 10 PM Peak Hour Vehicle Trip Generators” is included for your information.

Capacity Analysis will be conducted in the following manner:

1. Peak Hour Volumes will be calculated at 8.7% of the most recent 24 hour Average Daily Traffic Counts available from the City of Yakima or more recent data approved by the City Traffic Division.
2. Peak Hour Capacity of streets will be determined using 800 vehicles per lane during peak hour.
3. Volume to Capacity Ratios will be calculated based upon the findings of items above.
4. Development Impact will be determined using the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual, 6th Edition (or more recent) for the PM Peak Hour of the Adjacent Street.
5. Development generated PM Peak Hour Trips will be distributed by the City Traffic Engineer to Arterial Streets within 2 Classified segments.

Additional Comments
1. If the development has particular unique qualities which are not reflected in the these administrative procedures, this information should be communicated with the application form. Examples of this situation would be a land use which is not adequately described by the ITE Trip Generation Manual; or some quality of the development which makes the peak hour impact significantly different than a typical one. The Traffic Engineer will consider this information in the review process.
2. Generally, within one week after the filing of your application, the City Traffic Engineer will issue the findings of the review in a letter addressed to the applicant. If the results of the traffic capacity review preclude your project as proposed, you may modify your plans appropriately or appeal. A fee of $100 is required to request a reconsideration or an appeal of the findings. You may appeal the findings of the Traffic Engineer’s capacity test within fifteen (15) days of your results notification. Please refer to the ordinance for further questions regarding the appeal process.
3. Transportation Concurrency is not Site Plan Review
4. The review of your development under the Transportation Concurrency Application includes only the determination of available vehicle capacity on arterial streets. The review of site plan issues, parking lot design, street improvements and safety matters is not part of the Transportation Concurrency but will be addressed in the zoning review or other reviews conducted under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The Traffic Engineering Division may submit comments on your development as part of these other permits.

City Data Collection and Reporting Responsibility
The calculated traffic generated by your development will be logged into the Transportation Concurrency Program. Once your Concurrency application is approved, your generated traffic will be recorded into this program and carried until a new traffic count is available for the street segment, and monitoring of the street segment will be begin again. There is no “vesting” of your trips under the Concurrency Ordinance. If you gain Concurrency approval for your project, you will not be asked to re-submit an application for Concurrency, unless the project has changed significantly or your zoning approval has lapsed.

The City of Yakima will strive to collect Average Daily Traffic counts (ADT) for all classified streets on a two year cycle. These will be 24-hour counts, both directions and taken during normal traffic conditions. Regular collection of traffic counts will enable the City of Yakima to monitor street segment capacity. Traffic count data is available from the City of Yakima Traffic Engineering Division and on the city web page

Other related information about the City of Yakima Transportation Concurrency Program may be found in the Transportation Plan, such as the adopted Volume to Capacity ratios and the maximum lane capacity . The City of Yakima Transportation Plan is a required element of the Washington State Growth Management Act and the Yakima Urban Area Comprehensive Plan. The transportation Plan is available for public review from the City Planning Division or the City Traffic Engineering Division. The classification of streets into the hierarchy of Functional Classification is a cooperative process between the City of Yakima, the Yakima County Conference of Governments and the Washington State Department of Transportation. Information regarding the Functional Classification of specific streets is available from the City Traffic Engineering Division or on the city web page