Parks and Recreation Commission recommends City Council adopt 2027—2032 Transportation Improvement Program

The Richland Parks and Recreation Commission on May 14 voted to recommend that City Council adopt the 2027—2032 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), following a presentation by city staff on the program's active-transportation priorities.

City transportation planner Mr. D'Alessandro told commissioners the TIP is the required six-year planning document used to request state and federal funding and to inform the state's STIP process. He described more than 40 projects in the draft TIP and said the city is seeking construction funds for several partially funded priorities.

Among the highlighted projects, staff said about $5 million in state-directed funds have been awarded toward a ped/bike bridge over SR 240 between Steptoe and Columbia Center Boulevard; the project budget is roughly $11.9 million, leaving a funding gap of about $7 million. Mr. D'Alessandro described SR 240 complete-streets improvements (including a flyover ramp and a roundabout at a major intersection) and a set of systemic pedestrian crossing safety improvements that would install rapid-flashing beacons, signs and pavement markings at multiple corridors.

Staff also reported $3 million in Safe Routes to School funding to add rapid-flashing beacons, bike lanes and sidewalks within roughly a half-mile of each elementary school, and cautioned that a WSDOT-led pedestrian crossing at Airport Way increased in cost from an earlier estimate of about $200,000 to more than $1 million because punching a hole in the sound wall requires replacement and can trigger utility and right-of-way work.

Commissioners asked about developer frontage obligations for the Center Parkway extension and about project priorities. Commissioner Thompson moved that the commission recommend the TIP to City Council; the motion was seconded and approved on a voice vote. Mr. D'Alessandro said the planning commission will also make a recommendation and the Council public hearing is scheduled for June 2; the city must submit the document to the regional Benton-Franklin Council of Governments before June 30 so it can be included in the regional TIP and then the state STIP.

Why it matters: the TIP organizes which projects the city pursues for state and federal grants; partially funded active-transportation projects identified in the TIP would affect pedestrian and bicycle access across SR 240, near schools and at multiple locations citywide.

City staff provided maps and project detail on the public projects web page and said additional specifics will be presented at forthcoming commission meetings and at the June 2 Council hearing. The Parks and Recreation Commission adjourned to a scheduled workshop after completing the recommendation.