Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan to be submitted with minimum changes

LACEY - City officials in Lacey examined the six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) Thursday night to review city-wide transportation projects. 

The Lacey City Council conducts a review of the TIP on an annual basis and submits it to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC). The TIP is due to both agencies on July 31. 

“The type of projects that go into the improvement plan are regionally significant

and need to have federal and state grant funds or traffic mitigation funds in them,” said Martin Hoppe, the city’s transportation manager. “We do not have a lot of changes this year.” 

Among this year’s transportation projects, the College Street Corridor that includes the College Street and 16th Avenue Roundabout and electric vehicle charging stations remain high-priority projects. Work is expected to begin on both projects in the coming months. 

Expected development in the city will include improvements to the Britton Parkway and Carpenter Road intersection, which will be paid by the city. Work on the intersection at Carpenter Road and Mullen Road will be paid for by the county, Hoppe added. 

Overall, the construction cost index was just more than one percent this year and the traffic mitigation list will continue to be a part of the improvement project.

According to a TIP program summary, the College Street corridor project containing the College Street and 16th Avenue roundabout will cost $2 million, while a later phase of the project that includes the College Street and 29th Avenue roundabout will cost $1.7 million. A grant is pending for the College Street and 29th Avenue roundabout project. 

Three other projects, which include a Willamette Drive and Campus Glen Drive roundabout, a city-wide signal detection upgrade and electric vehicle charging stations, all cost less than $500,000 apiece.