Jackson Town Council and the County Commission on Jan. 6 approved a joint Transportation Capital Improvement Plan and directed staff to prioritize 10 projects for project development in fiscal year 2025–26.

The plan assembles more than 85 proposed transportation projects from departmental capital improvement plans and existing plans—including the town’s comprehensive plan and an integrated transportation plan—into a single, prioritized list to focus staff time and funding pursuit. "We want to prioritize staff's attention towards the most impactful projects," said Charlotte Fry, regional transportation planning administrator, during the joint presentation.

Fry told the boards the list does not remove other projects from the CIP; it identifies the projects staff proposes to focus on in the next 12 to 18 months. The top-10 list is based on staff scoring and a Transportation Advisory Committee ranking exercise; projects are drawn from multiple modes, including streets, pathways, transit and wildlife-crossing work. Fry said several of the highest-ranked projects are inside the town, where travel volumes and safety needs are concentrated, and she highlighted corridors such as North Cache Street and Snow King, as well as a North 89 wildlife-crossings concept and a High School Road safe-routes element.

Board members pressed staff on the plan's treatment of long-term maintenance and operations costs. Commissioner MacKer asked whether maintenance obligations—such as winter plowing for new pathways—were factored into prioritization. Fry said project attributes in the CIP database track maintenance and life-cycle costs but that actual maintenance funding is not currently dedicated; “right now we don't have a dedicated funding source even for maintenance,” she said, adding that maintenance generally comes from the general fund and from grants. Several elected officials asked that future budget briefings include clearer estimates of ongoing maintenance needs tied to any new projects.

Commissioners and council members also asked how the scoring and ranking should be interpreted. Fry said scores are one tool among several: high scores can indicate a community-identified need even when dedicated funding is not yet identified, and the prioritization would help staff pursue specific funding sources. She said staff will refine cost estimates as projects advance through design and budgeting and expects the town and county to revisit prioritization at least biannually.

The plan lists projects in categories as "planned," "programmed," and "placeholder" and includes projects expected to be refined by near-term planning efforts such as the Safe Streets and Roads for All project and the Start Transit Development Plan. Fry said staff will develop more complete cost estimates for engineering-ready projects and will return to the boards with budget implications.

There was no substantive public comment during the CIP discussion. After questions and discussion, the Jackson Town Council approved the motion to accept the CIP and to direct staff to prioritize the top 10 projects for FY2025–26. The motion was made by Councilman Lieberman and seconded by Councilman Schechter. The County Commission adopted a parallel motion moved by Commissioner Mecker and seconded by Commissioner Karlman. Both votes passed by unanimous voice votes; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript.

Next steps identified by staff include refining cost estimates, identifying dedicated funding sources to address any funding shortfalls, and returning to the boards with updated prioritization and funding information as part of the upcoming budget process. Fry said staff will continue to develop an ArcGIS story map to make project information more accessible to the public.