Road Maintenance Plans Posted for Public Review

For Immediate Release: Thursday, March 11, 2010

Washington County would like to hear from the public by April 9 about the DRAFT 2010 Road Maintenance Work Program. Comments may be submitted using the online form, by e-mail, or by calling the Operations and Maintenance Division at 503-846-ROAD (7623).

Each year, the Department of Land Use and Transportation prepares a road maintenance work plan for approval by the Washington County Board of Commissioners. The plan identifies maintenance activities that preserve the public's investment in the county's transportation infrastructure, providing the highest level of service possible within the resources available.

The Board guides development of the annual work plan through the Road Maintenance Prioritization Policy adopted in Policy 21 of the Transportation Plan. Roads in the major roadway system are the highest general maintenance priority. Maintenance of local roads and neighborhood streets is a lower priority because they carry less traffic and serve fewer residents.

Road maintenance is funded primarily by gas tax. Washington County receives a portion of state funds generated by a 24-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline, large truck weight-mile fees and vehicle registration fees. The county also collects a local one-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline and any other fuels for motorized vehicles.

The voter-approved Urban Road Maintenance District (URMD) provides road maintenance on local neighborhood roads in the urban unincorporated areas of the county – streets that are "below the radar" for other maintenance funds and have no city to take care of them. Property owners in the URMD are assessed 25 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation for maintenance of local roads. Since residents voted to assess themselves in 1994, the URMD has helped bring 99 percent of our urban unincorporated roads up to fair or better condition. URMD also helps fund the Neighborhood Streets traffic calming program.

Two citizen advisory committees work with county staff and advise the Board of Commissioners on issues related to road maintenance. The Rural Roads Operations and Maintenance Advisory Committee will consider the Draft 2010 Road Maintenance Work Program at their March 18 meeting. The recently established Urban Road Maintenance District Advisory Committee is still accepting membership applications.

Related: Link to online comment form

Washington County is committed to building and maintaining the best transportation system, ensuring the safety of all roadway users, and to operating the county roadway system in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner.

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