Around 14% of the region's 3.4 million people live in rural towns and areas outside the region's contiguous urban growth area. (UGA). While the rural areas might be viewed as having only a small portion of the region's population, they constitute about 84% of the land within the region and likewise contain a large share of the region's natural resources in terms of agriculture, minerals, timber, recreational resources, and open space.

Existing local, regional and state plans and policies speak to the goals of improving travel throughout the region while preserving and enhancing the character of the region's many rural communities. However, there was neither guidance nor resources to put action behind these words. Many state highway corridors in rural areas serve the dual role of "main streets" in rural towns while providing critical access to neighboring communities, the urban region and other parts of the state.

In prior decades, the simple solution to growing traffic problems on rural roads was to widen much of the highway, thus improving travel and access for cars and trucks but also devastating the unique and often historic character of the town, as such highway widening ignored a local community's distinctive development needs and aspirations.

The creation of this unique Rural Town Centers and Corridors program also established a special rural funding category within PSRC's federal discretionary Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds that the region manages as part of its regional transportation improvement program (TIP) process. This grant program is intended to be conducted approximately every two to three years. Please see the Call for Projects page for the latest grant program activity.

For a more in-depth description of the evolution of the Rural Town Centers and Corridors project, please see the November 2003 report entitled Rural Town Centers and Corridors Project [pdf 1.2MB, 45 p.]