News Releases

Contact: Rick Olson (206) 587-5060

SEATTLE -- Over 200 transportation projects designed to improve mobility within King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties are ready to clear another hurdle and be incorporated into the region's integrated transportation program. The Puget Sound Regional Council's Transportation Policy Board has released the Draft 2000-2002 Regional Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for public review and comment. The TIP contains 216 new projects representing an investment of $1.24 billion which the region's residents will watch emerge, and begin to use, within the next two years.

The projects represent work underway by cities, counties, ports, the state, federal agencies and transit agencies to improve the ways people can move around the region as outlined in local, state and regional plans. Things included in the draft improvement program represent the diversity of efforts underway within the region to keep pace with growth and support more safe and efficient travel, like:

• relatively small neighborhood road repair and improvement projects to boost safety and convenience for people in vehicles, buses, bikes and on foot
• large scale freeway improvements to complete missing links in the region's High Occupancy Vehicle system to encourage more reliable transit and carpool trips
• FAST (Freight Action Strategy)--Corridor projects to remove bottlenecks where important highways meet increasingly busy rails
• demand management programs designed to reduce traffic and provide new access to alternatives to driving alone
• significant new investments in Sound Transit electric light rail, commuter rail and Express bus service
• road expansion, interchange improvements, bridge replacements, slide prevention, drainage improvements and trail expansions
• new buses and station improvements to support additional transit service

In order to meet federal requirements, the region must demonstrate that the projects included within its Transportation Improvement Program will meet clean air mandates. An evaluation of all of the projects combined in the draft TIP has concluded that the region will be in conformity, but will come close to exceeding air pollution limits for carbon monoxide by 2020 given current trends. The region's carbon monoxide limit is 1,497 pounds per day. The draft TIP produced a forecast of 1,487 pounds per day by 2020, just 10 pounds short of the limit.

The formal public comment and review period that began with the release of the TIP draft will continue through September 8. A summary of any public comments received during this period will be provided at the September 9 Transportation Policy Board meeting when the Draft Regional 2000-2002 TIP is scheduled to be recommended for final approval.

The Draft TIP is being distributed to approximately 400 agencies and individuals this month. The draft document will also be mailed to major regional libraries and will be available at the Regional Council's Information Center, (206) 464-7532. Written comments should be sent to the attention of Karen Richter, PSRC, 1011 Western Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98104.

The Regional Council is an association of cities, towns, counties, ports and state agencies that serves as a forum for developing policies and making decisions about regional growth management, economic and transportation issues in the four-county central Puget Sound region. The Council is designated under federal law as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and under state law as the Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO), for King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. The Council provides creative, pragmatic regional planning and research to address current issues, and to explore future needs and options that could benefit the region.