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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: August 23, 2021 <br />TOPIC: I-90 Exit 70 to Exit 85 Preliminary Design Phase 1 <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direct Staff <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct staff work with regional Washington State Department of Transportation <br />(WSDOT) staff placing I-90 Exit 70 to Exit 85 Preliminary Design Phase 1 onto the state <br />transportation improvement plan. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Placement of I-90 (Exit 70 — 85) preliminary design activities have not been <br />getting any traction for placement onto the State Transportation Improvement <br />Plan (STIP). <br />• The state manager of the STIP believes the region will sponsor the project with <br />some minimal level of funding. <br />• PW suggests providing $100,000 in local money to WSDOT Southeast Region <br />supporting initial preliminary design work in 2022. <br />• PW could work with WSDOT Region staff ensuring the project is placed onto the <br />2022 STIP. <br />• PW staff will also work placing the project onto QUADCO's regional plan. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Recent legislative efforts targeting earmarking for transportation improvement projects <br />all require any project to appear on WSDOT's STIP. Recent efforts securing earmarks <br />failed in part owing to a lack of placement onto the STIP. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />PW staff specifically discussed the conundrum (no funding no STIP placement) with the <br />manager of WSDOT's STIP. The solution appears to require the County fund <br />preliminary engineering of Phase 1 supporting the project. The County can either carry <br />the project on its Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) or request the state to carry the <br />project on the region's TIP. Staff is investigating the ability to provide the funding <br />directly to the region allowing the region to manage the project. The County is <br />specifically allowed to fund improvements to state highways at Revised Code of <br />Washington (RCW) at Chapter 36.75.035. State and County cooperation is provided at <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2021 <br />