STREAMLINING THE TRANSPORTATION DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Washington State has entered into an agreement with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate a new way of doing business by starting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process in the earliest planning stage of a transportation strategy. The Washington State Department of Transportation's (WDOT) Olympic Region proposes to use the State Route (SR) 104 corridor for a demonstration project to test the new model that was developed by a state-wide process improvement team. This explanation of the process to be used includes information on how the state transportation department will work to develop the long-range vision for a corridor using the NEPA process, so that the decisions made will "stick" for the many years it will take to implement all of the recommended strategies for the corridor. The process includes formation of a Steering Committee of the affected jurisdictions, permit agencies, interested groups and affected citizens to determine the issues that will be addressed. There will be an extensive public outreach and involvement process to make sure that the vision is shared by the community. A Project Management Team (PMT) will manage the project, as well as coordinate the Steering Committee. The PMT will facilitate the gathering of information about the area, and the needs and wishes for the area, into a unified vision that may impact future zoning and development in the area as well as the actual transportation solutions identified for the corridor. The SR 104 corridor to be studied is approximately 25 miles of rural two-lane road through two counties. The roadway connects an urban area (metropolitan Seattle) and a currently rural area experiencing pressure to develop in order to support the urban area. The corridor is the major transportation link between these two areas, and its future design will be critical in establishing the way in which the rural area will develop. The route has a state scenic designation, ends at a ferry terminal, includes a bridge in need of major repair, passes near tribal land and has groups in favor of development as well a those that want to remain rural. Given this, the corridor study will offer challenges that many jurisdictions must face as they try to plan for the future. Currently, the perception is that decisions are made, and then the NEPA process is started and manipulated in order to come to the decisions that have already been made. This new process will bring the right people in at the right time to make the right decisions that will then guide the development of a corridor in the future. The process has the potential to become a nation-wide model for using the NEPA process in multi-modal transportation corridor planning.