An alternatives analysis process led to a selected concept for three roundabouts along the existing alignment of NE 171st Street in Woodinville, Washington. The design alleviates congestion created by zoning changes aimed at encouraging economic growth in the city’s downtown area. In leading the analysis, Otak also provided a variety of services including the full design and construction support that followed.
Converting an Arterial to Improve Capacity, Flooding, and Fish Passage
Zoning changes enacted within the downtown master planning area of Woodinville were expected to result in congested intersections at key entrances into the downtown core. Roundabouts at one existing intersection and plans for two others – at locations that would be constructed as the area became more densely developed – provided the basis for the identified best solution. The alignment for each intersecting roadway was determined while incorporating a roadway diet, from five lanes to two, between roundabouts to channelize the traffic safely and efficiently. These improvements came with several other benefits by substantially reducing paved areas, replacing two culverts to fish-passable standards, alleviating flooding, and adding stormwater quality improvements, and a multi-use trail.
An aging and underutilized park in Vancouver, Washington, was redesigned to meet current safety and accessibility guidelines. In updating the design and amenities of Dubois Park, Otak developed a master plan – as well as subsequent construction support – to address a variety of goals based on input from the community.
A Park Site Plan to Meet Diverse Community Recreation Priorities
Originally installed nearly 40 years prior, Dubois Park underwent an extensive public engagement process to produce a preferred site plan that met community needs for recreation. For the 2.3-acre park that was largely underutilized, its redesign balanced a widely diverse set of priorities from the public. From sustainable materials and planting design to universally inclusive public amenities and creative play opportunities, the design placed an overarching emphasis on enhancing recreation opportunities for all ages. Park layout, topography, and program were adjusted and publicly presented to demonstrate respect for various concerns and how they were addressed. The park has received praise from both neighborhood users and park staff for preserving the woodsy quality of the park while also increasing it’s utility for the community as a whole.
In the West Bull Mountain area of Washington County, Oregon, planning for future land use aimed at expansion. The goal of would be creating a highly livable “community of distinction” within the designated Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), including a custom stormwater strategy.
Outcomes-Based Concept Plan for a 500-Acre Expansion
An outcomes-based concept plan was developed for the 500-acre expansion area as well as an adjacent 212-acre rural area to be potentially added to the UGB. Innovative solutions were integrated into the planning to also account for complex engineering and transportation management elements. Otak would lead overall project management, planning, urban design, stormwater, natural resources, GIS, and public involvement services.
In revitalizing the central business district of Carnation, Washington, the reconstruction of four blocks was designed to improve a variety of areas from stormwater and utilities to traffic signage and pedestrian wayfinding. As the prime consultant completing these extensive streetscape improvements, Otak led the design, community engagement, and development of a comprehensive construction sequencing plan to minimize disruption to existing downtown businesses.
A Revitalized Streetscape Emphasizing Pedestrian Connectivity and Low Impact Development
This federally funded project applies a community-character design theme that draws on the area’s history to deliver new streetscape amenities as well as a host of functional streetscape improvements. Unique metal cut-out panels used as banners on street light poles and incorporated into street furniture highlight this theme. The design for core blocks downtown focused on pedestrian connectivity and gathering spaces while underground stormwater quality treatment vaults placed beneath sidewalks function as root-storage, allowing for street trees to be placed within the dense business-district environment. Integrated adjacent to the planter areas are stormwater bioretention facilities creating natural balance with landscape plantings. Use of a depressed-curb intersection design at Bird Street opens the cross-street pedestrian corridor for future festivals and other street events.
Otak is happy to introduce a week near and dear to our hearts. Starting today and going through this Saturday the 25th is National Surveyors week!
Surveyors’ week was created to provide a time for everyone in our profession to think about the impact surveyors have on society, to inform the general public about our work, and to share how enjoyable and impactful a land surveying career is.
To celebrate National Surveyor’s Week, we’re shining the spotlight on our beloved survey team and taking a closer look at what makes survey one of our most integral and far-reaching practice areas. Otak’s team is made up of 18 people working from three offices in Oregon and Washington, with a regional presence that includes Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, and South Dakota. With the help of partners, we also work in Alaska and Hawaii.
Our clients range from Federal agencies to national freight and passenger railroads, to local jurisdictions and even a homeowner from time to time. The variety of work Otak Survey does, along with the diversity of places we do it, is unique and very enjoyable.
What is Surveying?
Land Surveying is a profession as old as the concept of land ownership. The earliest known surveying practices date back to 1400 BC, when land was measured for taxation purposes in Egypt. The position of land surveyor has been held in esteem for just as long. In Oregon, the Office of County Surveyor is in the Constitution (Article VI, Section 8) and is still an elected position in several counties.
Surveyors are historians, measurers, mathematicians, mediators, and treasure hunters, using tools that have been around for a thousand years alongside the latest in modern technology and equipment. Our field and office surveyors map, measure, search, find, set, calculate, adjust, draw, compute, stake, read, scan, fly, float, and plat – sometimes all in the same day.
Meet Otak’s Survey Team
Otak’s survey group is a team that works together for everyone’s success. With a strong foundation of legacy staff, our team members range from seasoned experts to growing talent. All have important perspectives and skills to contribute, and that shows up in our work every day. Below are pictures of Otak field surveyors in their natural element.
Of course, most of the pictures are in pleasant conditions and in nice places – but field surveyors work in the elements every day. That may mean it’s wet, muddy, cold, raining, freezing, next to a freeway, or so remote that hiking into it can take hours. The next day that it’s terrible outside, remember, Otak’s field surveyors are probably out in the weather!
Some of Otak Survey’s recent projects include:
Trimet’s Division Transit Project and nearly every light rail line in the Portland area
Multiple segments of the Willamette Water Supply Pipeline from Wilsonville to Hillsboro, Oregon
Community Transit’s Orange Line and several other light rail lines in the Puget Sound region.
A new 6-mile industrial spur track in Mesa, AZ, for a national freight railroad.
Otak’s survey team uses satellites, robotic total stations, drones, scanners, unmanned boats, and 360° cameras – and as technology advances, so will our utilization of the latest and greatest surveying equipment available.
The Legacy of Otak’s Survey Practice Area
Otak has been providing land surveying throughout its entire history as a firm, with seasoned professionals who have been with us for 30+ years.
We’ve also had four generations of the Lundeen family that have worked for Otak Survey. The first generation started with Gary Lundeen, who worked at Otak for 30+ years until retirement. Gary’s son Joel Lundeen is currently at 29 years with Otak and counting. Generation three included two of Joel’s sons who have since moved on to other careers. Other long-time survey employees that have built the foundation of Otak’s survey practice include: Chris Wiley (24 years), Jerry Osgood (25 years), Mike Rusch (30 years), David Finley (20+ years), and David Breneman (24 years).
“Bob Hawes marked his 39th anniversary with Otak this year! Bob works harder and smarter than most. His tenure gives him a perspective that is nearly unobtainable.”
– Jon Yamashita, Director of Survey
Quality design depends on quality mapping – so early on it was decided that control of the mapping and surveying process was a key to Otak’s overall quality of work. It didn’t take long for word to spread that Otak’s surveying group provided high-quality services – very quickly our client list expanded to work for local and state agencies. We continue to work on on-call contracts with agencies that were initially won decades ago – and some agencies now find that there is more institutional knowledge of their land surveying history at Otak then they have internally.
Celebrating our Staff
Please join us in thanking the Otak Survey Team during International Surveyors’ Week! We’re grateful to have an expert team that is engaged in their work, quick to laugh, and always working on something fun.
To complete a gap in the more than 50-mile Lake Washington Loop Trail system, this segment also provides improved connections to downtown Renton and Boeing. Beginning with a preliminary design study, the Otak design ultimately adds 2,500 feet of an 11-foot-wide cycle track for bicyclists while updating existing sidewalks for pedestrian access.
Connecting a Bike Trail System and Multimodal Access to a Community Business Hub
After a preliminary design study recommended walkway and bicycle facility concepts for 7,000 feet of regional trail near the Renton airport and Boeing plant, this project moved forward in phases beginning with this 2,500-foot segment. In the resulting design, a cycle track and sidewalk were installed along the north side of Airport Way, and over the Cedar River. Due to limitations in right-of-way along Airport Way, traffic lanes were reconfigured to allow for the new cycle track. The project also included utility improvements, bridge handrail modifications, landscape and urban design, improved pedestrian connections, pedestrian lighting, signal updates, and signage. Otak provided surveying, preliminary engineering, final design, right-of-way plans, and construction engineering support.
As part of planning efforts for the Denver metro area, the Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority (SEMSWA) aimed to map disproportionately impacted communities as part of meeting a task order to develop an environmental justice technical presentation. Otak harnessed ArcPro’s spatial analysis tools to map overlays of identified communities (low income, minority communities, and housing cost burdened communities) throughout the SEMSWA service area with Colorado’s EnviroScreen data to show where impacted communities overlap.
Utilizing GIS Mapping to Improve Stormwater Service to Disproportionately Impacted Communities
In producing the “SEMSWA Service Area Environmental Justice: Disproportionately Impacted Communities” presentation, SEMSWA planned to pursue voluntary inclusion of environmental justice considerations in providing services, and prepare for possible inclusion of environmental justice requirements in future permitting. The intent of the map is to identify areas with environmental inequities, pinpoint areas that have disproportionately impacted communities (communities with greater health burden and/or face more environmental risks), and geographically identify disproportionately impacted communities (DICs) based on the definition in Colorado’s Environmental Justice Act. A geographic union was created in GIS to graphically show where multiple DIC communities overlap. The effort intersected SEMSWA’s maintenance areas with the DIC analysis results. By overlaying EnviroScreen data they could better identify areas of interest where SEMSWA provides services that appear to meet the definition of disproportionately impacted communities under the state law.
Ongoing work across numerous planning and design projects with the City of Burien has resulted in several regional stormwater facilities to serve redevelopment and growth. With several targeted and city-wide stormwater plans in place, the City of Burien is addressing drainage issues and investing in green infrastructure to support development while protecting local streams. In developing these plans and its subsequent projects, Otak also led community engagement in person and through interactive GIS StoryMaps to ensure an equitable process as well as community and staff buy-in.
Leveraging GIS Data for Ongoing, Equitable Stormwater Improvement
Starting with a master drainage plan for the North East Redevelopment Area (NERA), the City of Burien has expanded its stormwater approach and broader infrastructure development goals. Using hydrologic analysis and hydraulic modeling, the NERA plan included managing existing and future stormwater needs. The plan was implemented through years of design work, including all the way through construction management for regional stormwater facilities. Later, a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) was developed based on basin-level GIS analyses to protect and improve Miller Creek through green infrastructure and policy changes in the downtown catchment. The broader Burien stormwater master plan goes further to analyze city-wide drainage issues and design system improvements. These actions position the city to reduce flooding and improve water quality for the community.
To integrate current community priorities and ensure consistency with state and regional growth management planning, the Envision SeaTac 2044 Comprehensive Plan was updated to aid decision-making and development for the next twenty years. Otak collaborated closely with City staff to provide inclusive and extensive community engagement to help shape the plan, and we helped guide City leadership review throughout the comprehensive planning process. We also developed a geographic information systems (GIS)-based Equity Index Mapping Tool to help the City understand and expand access to opportunities—housing choices, parks and recreation, healthy foods, transit and transportation choices, social and public services, jobs and economic options, and other quality of life enhancements.
Expanding Communitywide Access to Opportunities, Aided by Geospatial Mapping
Strengthening the community’s identity and planning for anticipated growth and change, the updated SeaTac Comprehensive Plan provides guidance for decision-making and policy with a focus on enhancing community well-being and expanding access to opportunities informed by development of a specific SeaTac Equity Index Mapping Tool. Key growth strategies include expanding multimodal transportation and access to light rail stations, providing a range of housing choices for residents, and enhancing services and infrastructure to support growth and development. The Equity Index Tool helped identify and address inequities within the community to better guide the allocation of resources and focus of policy-making in long-range planning. The comprehensive plan provides elected and appointed officials, city staff, residents, and the business and development communities, with a comprehensive, consistent, equitable, easy to use, and culturally-relevant plan.
The inspection and repair design for six timber trestle bridges along the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad utilized 3D modeling to improve infrastructure in this area of Southwest Washington. In leading the structural repair design, Otak performed field inspections of all six bridges including, surveying and documenting the condition of the structures and identifying deficiencies.
Ranging in size from 50-feet to over 500-feet, the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad Bridges were originally built in the early 1900’s and had no previous drawings available. To support the production of as-built drawings needed for repairs, the survey crew used scanning technology to gather thousands of points on the structure. Data sets were then used to create a 3D model of the structure that could be used to generate the line work with as-built drawings. The density of the data allowed engineers to measure elements such as pile size without having to gather more data from the field. Utilizing this approach, the retrofit design for the bridges ultimately included replacement of stringers and braces, posting of decayed sections of timber piles, and rebuilding approaches and wingwalls. Special consideration was given in the design to minimize permitting requirements for the projects by ensuring all work stayed within the limits of maintenance and repair. By doing this, the permitting process was limited to documenting the work and concurrence with the permitting agencies so that no permitting review was required.
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