Seattle Healthy Places Research Group Forum

Effectively Building Bridges to a Healthier Community: Health Impact Assessment of the SR 520 Project

Panel Speakers

Rob Johnson
Executive Director, Transportation Choices Coalition
Rob recently became the Executive Director after four years as the Regional Policy Director at Transportation Choices. Rob’s work as Regional Policy Director included leading the passage of $20 Billion in funding for transit in Washington State, serving as the staff lead on the 520 and Alaskan Way Viaduct mediation teams, and implementing several other policy programs including their Transportation 101 program, Sustainable Cities program, and Active Transportation Working Group. Prior to Transportation Choices, Rob worked as a grassroots organizer for several political campaigns and as a public and private sector planner. A graduate of Willamette University in Salem Oregon, Rob also holds a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from UCLA.

Barbara Wright
Deputy Director, Environment Health Division, Public Health - Seattle & King County
Barbara is the Deputy Director of the Environmental Health Division, Public Health – Seattle & King County.  She has worked on issues relating to how decisions in the built environment impact population health.  She has served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Omaha; Parks Director for King County, Washington; and Parks Director for the City of Omaha.  In addition, she has had extensive experience working on planning documents, design plans as well as other policy development.   On a personal note, she has traveled extensively in Western and Eastern Europe and more recently in Cuba.  She has had an avid interest in other approaches to creating strong communities though planning, urban agriculture, park design and historic preservation efforts.

Julie Meredith
Program Director of WSDOT’s SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program
Julie Meredith, P.E., is the Program Director of WSDOT’s SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program. Julie earned a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington before launching her engineering career working on the region’s transportation issues. She has been with WSDOT for over 20 years and has been working on the SR 520 program since 2003. With a legislative budget of $4.65 billion, the SR 520 program is one of the state’s largest transportation programs, including pontoon construction in Grays Harbor, the Eastside Transit and HOV Project and the I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV Project. As director of the SR 520 program, Julie managed WSDOT's involvement and was also a participant in the Health Impact Assessment process in 2007 and 2008.

Jenifer Young
Environmental Manager for the SR 520 I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV Project
Jenifer is the Environmental Manager for the SR 520 I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV Project. She became involved in the SR 520 program in 1999 and has been working full time on the program since 2006. In 2008 she provided support to King County and PSCAA on the SR 520 Health Impact Assessment. Before joining the SR 520 team, Jenifer managed environmental review and permitting for many transportation, transit, water pollution control, and land use projects in the Puget Sound region and elsewhere. Jenifer is currently the president of her own firm, Thistle Street Consulting. She holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington.

Related articles in Northwest Public Health:
Health Impact Assessment: Promoting Health Across Sectors Andrew Dannenberg
Health Impact Assessment: SR 520 Barbara Wright