Kent schedules public hearing on 2026–2031 Transportation Improvement Plan

Mayor Dana Ralph said the Kent City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on a resolution to adopt the city’s 2026–2031 Transportation Improvement Plan, a six‑year list of projects that positions certain projects to compete for grant funding.

The plan matters because projects included in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) become eligible for grant programs the city uses to finance road, sidewalk and other transportation work; the mayor said many recent projects around Kent have been grant funded.

"This is that 6 year plan that lays out the projects that we are hoping to accomplish," Mayor Dana Ralph said in the video update. She noted council members have received multiple presentations on the TIP and that the plan helps set projects up for grant funding.

The mayor described the TIP as the document that makes projects eligible for grants if they are included; she credited the Public Works Department’s recent success in securing grant funding for many current projects. No formal council action or vote on the resolution was reported in the mayor’s remarks—only that a public hearing will occur at the next council meeting on Tuesday.

Discussion points in the mayor’s remarks focused on the TIP’s role in project prioritization and grant eligibility and on prior presentations the council has received. The only formal, scheduled action referenced was the public hearing on the resolution; there was no decision reported in the video.

Residents interested in more information were directed to the city’s recorded council presentations (as referenced by the mayor) and to attend the council meeting where the public hearing will be held.