WEA members met with Washington County's Land Use & Transportation Director Stephen Roberts, along with Senior Policy Analyst Chris Deffebach and Principal Transportation Planner Erin Wardell, this week during a virtual Transportation Committee meeting.
The three talked about the next planning phase of the Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP), also known as the MSTIP '23-'28 Funding Allocation Work Plan.
Washington County is the only county in the state to have this unique property tax mechanism, which has been successful in providing funding for transportation projects for the past 35 years.
For the first time, the County will have help from a consulting firm to advise on equity and outreach efforts for MSTIP, and Wardell said the public engagement will start sooner in the planning process than it has in the past.
The County has proposed outcomes for the program that include:
- Equity,
- Safety,
- Economic vitality,
- Livability,
- and Natural environment.
Wardell said the consulting firm will help advise the County on the definitions or frame work for some of these, including the equity piece.
This fall the County will be asking the public what is important to them when it comes to the transportation system, and they will have more targeted outreach to residents who are historically underrepresented.
To learn more, see the slide deck from the presentation.