Time To Weigh In on The State’s Transportation Plan

It’s one thing to make a list, it’s quite another to pay for what’s listed. That, in a nutshell, is Washington’s transportation projects list. Nonetheless, it’s now your turn to add to it.

After months of collaborating with local and regional transportation planning organizations, the Washington State Department of Transportation is ready to present its annual list of future statewide transportation-improvement projects to the public for review and comment.

Anyone is welcome to provide feedback on WSDOT’s draft of the 2015–18 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). Comments are welcome from now until Dec. 17.

The 30-day comment period is the last step of a process that finishes near where it began: talking with local residents, leaders and planners in communities across the state. Any comments WSDOT receives will be sent to the appropriate local planning organization for consideration.

More than 1,100 transportation-improvement projects statewide using $2.6 billion in federal funds are included in the 2015–18 plan. Improvement projects include pavement overlays, roadway widening, bridge replacement or repair, signal systems, safety enhancements, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and transit facilities.

The STIP is a four-year, prioritized program of federally funded transportation projects. The list also includes some state and local transportation projects. A new four-year STIP is created every year, and projects may carry over as they move from design to permitting and, ultimately, to construction.

Projects included in the STIP are funded by a combination of federal, state and local sources. Federal-aid projects must be included in the STIP before the Federal Highway Administration or Federal Transit Administration can authorize the expenditure of federal funds.

The 2014-17 STIP is also available online. A similar, searchable database of the 2015-18 STIP will be created in early 2015, following FHWA and FTA approval. Some county projects are not included in the draft STIP. By state law, counties are required to complete their transportation-improvement programs by the end of December, and their projects will incorporated into the final version in January.

How to participate

Written comments can be sent to:

Nancy Huntley, WSDOT  P.O. Box 47390  Olympia, WA 98504-7390 Huntlen@wsdot.wa.gov

Fax: 360-705-6822