The Transportation Planning and Programming Division performs long-range planning and program development to meet the ever-increasing transportation needs of Pierce County.

The duties and tasks of the Transportation Planning and Programming Division are separated into six different areas.

• Transportation Planning
• Interagency Coordination
• Program Development
• Transportation Engineering & Project Development
• Road Information
• Corridor Studies

Transportation Planning examines and coordinates traditional land use planning and transportation engineering. Transportation Planning may be as specific as localized analysis for certain projects, or as broad as developing and updating the Transportation Element of the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan.

Transportation Planning Menu

• Nonmotorized Transportation
• Bicycle Resources
• Traffic Impact Fees (TIF)
• Transportation Concurrency
• Transportation Options (Commute Trip Reduction)
• Transportation Plan Update (TPU)
• Travel Demand Modeling

Washington State's Growth Management Act (GMA), Transportation Demand Management Act, and the Federal Government's Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) have made interagency coordination not only a legal requirement but also a functional necessity.

Now, more than ever, state and local government agencies and metropolitan planning organizations find themselves more dependent upon each other in planning and funding transportation systems. Interagency coordination is necessary to establish consistent and cooperative plans, programs, and projects between Pierce County and other appropriate agencies.

The listing below is a sample of the organizations and committees that our division works with throughout the year.

Interagency Coordination Menu

• County Road Administration Board(CRAB)
• Freight Action STrategy Partnership (FAST)
• Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB)
• Pierce County Regional Council (PCRC)
• Pierce Transit
• Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)
• Sound Transit
• Transportation Improvement Board (TIB)
• Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

Program Development encompasses a wide range of activities including the programming of transportation-related capital expenditures, development of related priority analysis systems, and development of the Construction Fund Management System (CFMS). These development activities encompass the main portion of capital programming for the County's transportation system.

Program Development Menu

• Pierce County Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and 14-year Ferry Program

Transportation engineering and project development encompass a wide range of activities that tend to be project-specific including project scoping, project financing exploration and development, grants acquisition and management, and engineering evaluations of proposed transportation improvements. These services provide the foundation for specific project engineering, financing, and construction.

• Crystal Mountain Boulevard
• Orting Bridge for Kids

Road Information functions encompass a wide range of activities that serve to maintain important data, maps, and other information to accurately represent and describe the existing County road network. Maintenance of much of this information is a requirement of RCW 36.78 and serves as a basis for acquiring proper fuel tax distributions from the State.

• 2006 Pierce County Atlas

The Transportation Planning and Programming Division and Consultant Resources/Environmental Section of the Engineering Division are responsible for conducting transportation planning and engineering feasibility studies of proposed roadways.

These corridor studies also evaluate the environmental and economic impacts and benefits of providing new arterial roadways recommended in the Pierce County Transportation Plan. In this manner, roadway corridors are preserved to meet future transportation requirements of Pierce County citizens. The corridor studies also include ferry location and connection studies as appropriate.

• Rhodes Lake Road Corridor Study

If you have any questions or comments please email us.