Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Regional Transportation Plan presented to Tenino council; policy board asks staff to soften DEI wording
Summary
Thurston Regional Planning Council briefed Tenino on a 25-year Regional Transportation Plan that lists safety, housing location, reduced vehicle miles and greenhouse-gas goals; policy board recommended softening DEI language to avoid conflict with federal executive actions.
A representative of the Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) briefed the Tenino City Council on May 13 about the draft 25-year Regional Transportation Plan, which TRPC describes as the region’s “road map” for transportation, land use and multimodal investments through 2050.
TRPC outlined five regional targets adopted for the plan: reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries (target: zero), increase the share of households near urban centers, reduce per-capita vehicle miles traveled (ambitious 2035/2050 targets), and lower greenhouse-gas emissions relative to 2015 levels. The plan is financially constrained and includes about 80 regional projects, including road, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, trail extensions (the Almond–Rainier–Tenino trail extension was highlighted) and several highway interchange projects. TRPC said the plan will help mitigate congestion from an expected regional increase of roughly 106,000 people and 52,000 jobs over the next 25 years.
TRPC also briefed council members on an ongoing policy-board concern about language that references diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). TRPC said staff have not been directed to amend the draft but that the Transportation Policy Board unanimously recommended softening or removing explicit “DEI” phrasing to ensure compliance with recent federal executive actions that some boards fear could affect eligibility for federal funding. “Staff has not been directed to amend the draft… programs,” the TRPC representative said, adding that the law is unsettled and litigation is pending in some cases.
TRPC outlined the review schedule: council’s first review on June 6, policy board review June 11, and the council’s anticipated adoption action in July. TRPC urged interested residents to submit comments; the public-comment period recently closed but TRPC said it will continue processing and forwarding comments received while materials are under review.
The presentation emphasized safety, equity, climate and system maintenance as organizing themes and noted that achieving the plan’s targets will require regional prioritization and funding.
