2026-09-14-minutes-public-works-study-session

Home Browse Search

Roads. The County Road Safety Plan identifies improvements for Kittitas Highway and No. 6 Road as priority 1 in the plan. The Road Safety Plan is the basis for application to the State for funding through the Highway Safety Improvement Plan( HSIP). Project funding is based on State allocation to the HSIP. The six -year plan includes projects for funding received through the HSIP. Passmore Road is currently identified as a Primitive Roadway with a gravel surface. Primitive roads are not part ofthe County' s primary road system. Maintenance is performed including grading the roadway on an annual basis. Kittitas County has failed to perform even the most basic safety work at the intersection of Kittitas Highway and No. 6 Road, including clearing vegetation and other obstructions from the public right-of-way to improve sight distance. Clearing the right-of-way should happen immediately, but it is not a complete solution. The County should begin planning and securing funding for a roundabout to reduce vehicle speeds and lessen the severity of crashes. Roundabouts have worked successfully on Bullfrog Road and in comparable traffic settings near Mattawa and Quincy. The danger at this intersection is known and foreseeable. The County has been put on notice. If officials continue to delay meaningful safety improvements, they must accept responsibility for the consequences of that decision. AIRPORT BRIEFING SUMMARY: • Bowers field is a County owned public use airport • Capital projects are underway and proposed for the airport • Funding to the airport includes grants, lease payments and County General fund transfers Capital projects are funded primarily through funding allocated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The current project is the construction of a hangar taxilane project which will allow for hangar space to be developed. The recent completion of a wetland mitigation site met the requirement for mitigation of wetland impacts of a proposed project. Future work will include items on the Capital Improvement Plan. The largest capital project proposed is the parallel taxiway project. This project has an estimated design and construction cost of $15 million. Funding for capital projects is typically supported by the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA) through an annual allocation. This allocation is programmed. For larger projects the FAA may use discretionary funding. A local match, typically 10%, is required. The parallel taxiway is proposed to be designed in 2027 and construction beginning in 2029. Kittitas County needs to get serious about Bowers Field The County should place $1.5 million of distressed -area sales -tax revenue in reserve now to provide the anticipated local match for the future $15 million FAA airport -improvement project. Securing the match would demonstrate that the County is prepared to move forward when federal funding becomes available. The County was legally gifted the airport incubator building more than two years ago, yet there is still no clear plan for its use. That is not responsible management of a public asset. Wetlands near an active airport runway create a potential wildlife -attraction and bird -strike hazard. The County should determine which wetlands can legally be filled and mitigate those impacts by restoring or protecting wetlands elsewhere — potentially as part of the County's Yakima River floodplain property acquisitions. Waiting for a bird strike involving an aircraft flown by a student pilot is not an acceptable safety policy. The County must act before a preventable accident occurs —not afterward, when condolences are all it has left to offer.