Thurston Regional Transportation Plan update: council hears targets, gaps and local projects tied to Tumwater

Katrina Van Every, transportation manager for the Thurston Regional Planning Council, told the Tumwater City Council on April 22 that the draft Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) lays out a 25-year roadmap for the region and must be updated every five years to meet state and federal requirements.

The RTP sets regional goals on safety, greenhouse-gas reduction, land-use alignment, equity and system maintenance and includes a financial forecast and a list of about 80 regionally significant projects. Van Every said the draft will be revised after public comment, sent to TRPC’s transportation policy board in June for a recommendation, and presented for final action in July.

Why it matters: the RTP is used by jurisdictions and state agencies to prioritize projects and to demonstrate how regional investments support state and federal targets. Van Every said the region’s planned land use and roadway capacity alone will not meet the regionally adopted targets; additional strategies are required to avoid future congestion and meet greenhouse‑gas and vehicle‑miles‑traveled (VMT) goals.

Van Every told council members the RTP’s targets include a state-adopted safety goal of reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero and regionwide greenhouse-gas targets (a…