Washington State Department of Transportation officials on Jan. 27, 2025 updated the Senate Transportation Committee on implementation of the Complete Streets requirement and related active transportation grant programs.

Barb Chamberlain, director of WSDOT’s Active Transportation Division, said the division “guide[s] your investments in projects and programs” and supports the state’s Target Zero safety goals. Chamberlain and Celeste Gilman, WSDOT strategic policy administrator and the statewide lead on Complete Streets implementation, briefed the committee on how the agency has incorporated Complete Streets into routine project delivery since the statute took effect July 1, 2022.

Gilman told the committee the agency has identified more than 330 projects for Complete Streets improvements across the state; 47 projects are in active planning and 16 were fully scoped but deprogrammed due to funding shortfalls. She said most preservation and small rural projects are deprioritized for full Complete Streets elements because WSDOT manages a large rural lane-mile network and must focus limited resources where people live, work and play.

Gilman described WSDOT’s process: determine whether a state transportation project is in a context where Complete Streets can deliver significant safety and accessibility benefits, coordinate with local communities to scope modifications, and capture deferred needs in scoping systems for future projects. She said WSDOT prioritizes projects serving schools, transit stops and overburdened communities, noting a federal Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment finds many fatal pedestrian and bicyclist crashes on state routes occur near schools and transit stops.

Chamberlain reviewed active transportation grant programs, including Safe Routes to School and the Pedestrian & Bicyclist program. She said the Climate Commitment Act provides the majority of funding for Safe Routes and that the Active Transportation Assistance program provides technical support to jurisdictions with limited capacity. On e-bike programs, Chamberlain said a voucher launch is planned for April with a two-week registration window and a random selection process; vouchers will prioritize low-income residents with a 60% requirement.

Committee members asked about emergency vehicle access, winter cycling use, and funding sources. On emergency access, Gilman said the safe-system approach includes post-crash care and local designs sometimes permit protected lanes to be used by emergency vehicles. Regarding funding, WSDOT staff offered to convene budget and capital programming staff to detail funding sources for particular projects; the committee noted that some previously scoped projects were deprogrammed when preservation funds contracted in 2023–24.

Committee staff and WSDOT officials said the SR7 project in Pierce County and repaving on US 395 in Lincoln and Stevens counties are among early Complete Streets projects advancing into construction. WSDOT emphasized that the complete-streets requirement applies where a public investment of more than $500,000 occurs, triggering a scoping process to identify walking and bicycling deficiencies to be addressed.

No committee action or vote was taken; the agency said it would continue to work with the Legislature and local partners on funding and implementation details.