Regional transportation plan (RTP) 2050 presented to Tumwater commission; major projects and targets outlined

Allison Osterberg, planning manager with the Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC), presented the draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) to the Tumwater Planning Commission on March 25, 2025, describing regional growth projections, policy targets and a package of projects intended to address congestion, safety and multimodal access through 2050.

Osterberg said the Thurston region is among the faster-growing areas in Washington and will see substantial population, housing and job growth by 2050. TRPC modeling projects more than 100,000 additional residents across the region by 2050, about 58,000 additional housing units and roughly 50,000 new jobs, Osterberg said, and noted about 52,000 more residents would live within close access to transit under planned scenarios. The RTP is financially constrained and covers all modes, she said, with a strengthened emphasis on safety, equity, greenhouse-gas reductions and maintenance of existing assets.

The RTP includes about 80 regionally significant projects. Osterberg identified corridor and intersection constraints relevant to Tumwater: Little Rock Road, Capitol Boulevard, Trostle Road, and I‑5 between Tumwater and DuPont, including the I‑5/90th Avenue interchange area. She said projects and studies already planned or underway include trail extensions such as the Deschutes Valley Trail and Karen Fraser Woodland Trail extension; expanded transit investments by Intercity Transit including bus rapid transit and transit signal priority; and corridor signal improvements under a “smart corridors” approach.

Commissioners asked questions about freight, intermodal connections and how the RTP coordinates with neighboring regions and state agencies. Osterberg said the RTP coordinates closely with the Washington State Department of Transportation and other MPOs and acknowledged that freight mobility is an area TRPC plans to study more deeply in the coming year. She said the RTP must be consistent with local comprehensive-plan transportation elements and that TRPC will certify transportation elements as jurisdictions complete them.

Osterberg described schedule and next steps: TRPC planned to release the full RTP draft for public comment in early April, host a story map and survey, seek recommendations from the regional transportation policy board, and schedule TRPC council adoption by July 2025. She invited Tumwater staff to share the RTP public-comment link with local stakeholders when it becomes available.

No formal votes on the RTP were taken by the commission. Commissioners thanked TRPC staff for the overview and asked staff to return or provide follow-up materials on freight, trail projects and transit-service expansions affecting Tumwater corridors.