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Auburn releases draft 2026–2031 Transportation Improvement Program; public hearing set for June
Summary
Public works staff described the required annual Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) update, proposed project removals and four new projects for the 2026–2031 TIP, and the draft will proceed to a public hearing and resolution on June 16.
City staff presented the annual update to Auburn’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for 2026–2031 and told council the TIP is a six-year, financially constrained plan required by state law.
“Transportation improvement program … is our 6 year short term plan for transportation facilities. It is a financially constrained plan,” Senior Traffic Engineer James Webb said during the presentation.
Nut graf: the TIP programs only revenues the city reasonably expects to receive, is used to coordinate grants and utility timing, and functions as the reporting mechanism for Transportation Benefit District (TBD) funds.
Staff said the annual update proposes removing six projects that have been completed or are under construction (including the downtown infrastructure project, the Lee Hill ITS expansion, the preservation of A Street Southeast and the 2025 local street preservation project) and adding four projects: a concept/design study at Auburn Way South/Seventeenth/M Street SE (an RTP-identified need requiring coordination with WSDOT because SR 164 is involved); an intersection signal replacement and eastbound widening on C Street NW at Third Street NW (combining a signal replacement fund and TIF for capacity); a 2027 local street preservation program project; and an arterial preservation/reconstruction project on West Valley Highway and Fifteenth Street SW (a candidate for TIB grant funding).
Staff provided a six-year funding summary totaling about $83 million in projects; preservation accounts for roughly half that total. About $14 million of grant funding is secured and the TIP lists an outstanding need of about $13 million in additional grant funding. TBD revenues fund several preservation projects; staff said the TBD sales-tax increase (0.1%) is authorized through 2033 and that the city could later consider a vehicle licensing fee if TBD revenues do not meet program needs.
Process and next steps: staff will bring the TIP to council for setting a public hearing on June 2 and, after the hearing, adopt the TIP by resolution at the June 16 meeting. Project-level adjustments may be made later in the year through an amendment process if required.
Ending: Council had follow-up questions about unsewered areas and how sewer extensions are funded; staff said sewer extensions into unsewered pockets are typically funded by property owners via local improvement districts when neighborhoods opt in, because sewer utility rates do not cover extensions to unsewered areas.
