At a public hearing, the County Planning Commission recommended the county commissioners approve the draft 6‑Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) as presented, with additions to include several culvert replacement projects on the unfunded list.

The recommendation follows a presentation by Deputy Director Steve Gray of County Public Works and County Engineer Joe Dadesi, who outlined funded projects, an unfunded project list and new grant awards. The TIP is the county’s annual capital‑planning document and, Gray said, “This plan is gonna allow us to hire a consultant to relook at our intersections, our accident data, our geometrics of our roads, and come up with the recommendations of safety improvements throughout the county.”

Why it matters: The TIP shapes where county transportation dollars and grant applications will go for the next six years. The commission’s approval forwards the draft to the county commissioners, who will hold a public hearing and adopt the TIP prior to adopting the county budget.

Most important outcomes: Commissioners were told the draft lists 42 planned, funded projects and about 48 planned but unfunded projects. New or newly funded items called out during the hearing included:
- A federal grant for a county safety action plan to fund a consultant to analyze intersections, crash data and road geometrics and recommend safety improvements that will make the county eligible to compete for implementation funding.
- Three fish‑passage improvement projects moved from the unfunded list to the funded list after partner nonprofits secured grants; public‑works staff said the projects will often be delivered by partners such as North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Wild Salmon Center in memoranda of understanding with the county.
- Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) projects funded in part by a federal RAISE grant, with the county’s share of that grant described as “Total funding available to the county through this federal RAISE grant is 3,750,000.00,” Gray said; those funds will support design, environmental review and right‑of‑way work on multiple trail gaps and a new multiuser bridge in Forks.

Other projects and funding notes: Completed projects reported to the commission include resurfacing and widening work funded by federal Surface Transportation Block Grant and National Highway System Asset Management funds (Gray cited roughly $1.1 million for the Photolympic resurfacing project and about $1.3 million for Airport Road resurfacing). The county described 485 miles of roads (about 970 lane miles) under its management; staff said roughly 70% of county roads are functionally classified as local access roads and that most grant programs do not fund major upgrades to those local access roads.

Partnerships and delivery mechanisms: Staff emphasized that many fish‑passage and trail projects are being delivered through grants held by nonprofits or tribes; those partners will coordinate with public works and execute memoranda of understanding for right‑of‑way, design review and construction oversight. Staff urged that projects move from the unfunded list to funded status only as grant money is secured.

Public process and next steps: The trails advisory committee recommended approval of the ODT‑related projects earlier the same day. County commissioners will hold budget town halls and a public hearing on the TIP; staff said the board will consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation at its hearing on November 4. The commission voted to forward the draft TIP as presented with the added culvert replacement projects; the motion carried with no recorded oppositions.

Implementation caveats: Commissioners and staff repeatedly noted the limits of county funding for local access roads and said routine maintenance (chip seal, minor resurfacing) is financed from ongoing road levy, gas tax and related local funds; large reconstruction typically requires outside grant funding. Staff also flagged a nascent local access road program at the County Road Administration Board that could increase funding options in future years but said it will take time to establish scoring and allocations.

Looking ahead: If the county secures additional federal or partner grant awards, several projects now on the unfunded list could move into the funded six‑year program. The planning commission’s recommendation advances the draft TIP to the county commissioners, who must formally adopt the document before the budget is finalized.