Five-year transportation plan finished for region

The 2010 regional transportation plan for the four-counties of southeast Washington was completed last month by the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization, or RTPO.

Under state mandates, the plan must be updated every five years and is used to identify key regional transportation concerns.

Whitman belongs to the Palouse RTPO with Asotin, Columbia and Garfield counties. The report was prepared by JUB Engineering of Spokane, according to Duane Wollmuth, executive director of the RTPO and the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association, or SEWEDA.

The plan outlines the region’s existing infrastructure and areas in which improvement is needed.

Predictably, the number one issue identified in the plan is a lack of financial resources for transportation projects. Without that funding, the region is falling behind in its efforts to preserve the existing transportation system.

With deteriorating road and rail infrastructure, the report found, the region needs to maintain a system that will provide year-round avenues to accommodate commerce.

The primary need for freight transportation comes from the region’s agricultural sector.

Deterior-ating rail service, lack of a reliable year-round all weather road system and river barge networks clogged with silt combine to hamper the movement of farm commodities.

Narrow road shoulders, tourist traffic and poorly maintained roads also present safety hazards to everyday traffic, the report said.

The RTPO was formed in 1991. Whitman County joined in 2003, after opting out of the Spokane Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The final 2010 transportation plan is available on the RTPO web site: http://www.seweda.org.