Deschutes County adopts updated Transportation Safety Action Plan, pledges new crash‑reduction goals

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners on March 18 adopted an updated Transportation Safety Action Plan (TSAP), a county road‑network safety strategy funded through a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) federal grant that staff said will guide project selection and future grant applications.

Blaine Ruck, senior transportation engineer with the Road Department, told the board the TSAP update analyzed crash records from 2018 through 2022 and identified more than 2,000 crashes on county roads in that interval. Ruck said the analysis showed a large share of crashes were roadway‑departure and intersection related, with speeding, impairment and improper protective‑equipment use among key driver behaviors. "This plan is basically a comprehensive... document that we use at the road department to enforce safety on the county road system," he said.

Ruck and Road Department Director Chris Doty described two outcomes from the plan: a prioritized list of location‑specific conceptual improvements (for intersections and road segments) and a set of systemic, lower‑cost countermeasures deployable across the county. The TSAP also included school‑area safety audits for rural schools, proposed multimodal improvements and a public‑outreach record of two virtual open houses and a safety working group.

Staff highlighted performance measures used to identify a county high‑injury network and said the plan will help the county remain eligible for federal and state safety funding. Ruck told commissioners the county found a high proportion of fixed‑object crashes and noted vegetation removal in rights‑of‑way as one of the countermeasures. He also said motorcycles accounted for a significant share of fatal and serious‑injury crashes in the dataset.

The draft TSAP includes a stated county commitment to a long‑term goal of zero fatal and serious‑injury crashes and a target of 50% reduction by 2050; staff presented the adoption as a prerequisite for some federal grant programs and a tool for prioritizing the county's capital improvement and maintenance work. Commissioner comments emphasized using the plan to guide both small, frequent countermeasures and larger project investments.

With no public commenters at the hearing, the board voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 2026‑011 to adopt the TSAP and authorize staff to pursue implementation and grant opportunities. Commissioners and staff said the plan will be used to identify projects for the county CIP and to apply for future state and federal funding.

Next steps: staff will finalize the document, use the TSAP priorities to develop conceptual project packages for funding applications and continue outreach with community partners and regional safety groups.