Impact of transportation development

My wife and I have been residents of Ballard for 28 years. We have seen the changes that have occurred in Ballard along with the rapid development of rental units, and most of it is not good [“Ballard’s risky apartment boom,” page one, Nov. 26].

There seem to be no significant transportation improvements, as we now for the past several years have rush-hour traffic due to the signalized intersections being well beyond capacity. I have a few questions:

First, are developers not required, as part of their land-use approvals, to be assessed development fees for transportation improvement projects based on their project’s impact on the infrastructure?

Second, what is SDOT’s plan in regards to correcting the overcapacity intersections?

Third, how coordinative are SDOT and the Department of Planning and Development when it comes to these new developments and their impacts on transportation? Does SDOT require all these developments to perform transportation studies, and if so, why are there no improvements being made to correct the overcapacity intersections?

— Jim Ives, Seattle