Transportation Policy Board to review $16M grant cycle

Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) staffers will brief the Transportation Policy Board on the upcoming 2026 Call for Projects, a competitive process that is going to distribute about $16 million in federal funding for projects scheduled between 2028 and 2032.  

The funding comes from two federal projects administered by the Federal Highway Administration: the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ).  

TRPC Senior Planner Paul Brewster will provide an overview of the funding programs at a Transportation Policy Board meeting on Wednesday, March 11. He is also going to gather feedback from board members on proposed updates to the project evaluation criteria and review process.  

TRPC expects to award approximately $11 million in STBG funds for projects between federal fiscal years 2030 and 2032, and $5 million in CMAQ funds for projects scheduled between 2028 and 2030.  

CMAQ funding supports projects aimed at reducing transportation emissions, improving air quality and easing traffic congestion. Eligible projects include transit improvements, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, ridesharing programs, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and traffic signal coordination.  

STBG funding supports a wide range of transportation investments, including road and bridge construction, pavement preservation, transit capital projects, safety improvements, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, electric vehicle charging and vehicle-to-grid infrastructure, and wildlife crossing structures to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.  

Projects will be evaluated based on how well they support regional transportation priorities adopted by the TRPC. Priorities include improving walking and biking connections, increasing system efficiency, maintaining transportation infrastructure, supporting regional planning efforts, and strengthening the system’s resilience to disruptions.  

The 2026 Call for Projects will use the same evaluation criteria that was used in the 2024 funding cycle. TRPC’s Technical Advisory Committee reviewed the criteria and recommended revisions.  

TRPC staffers are proposing to remove “Neighborhood Centers” from the Sustainable Thurston Urban Centers and Corridors evaluation. 

For the 2026 grant cycle, the neighborhood center designation would be removed because it no longer aligns with recently updated comprehensive plans adopted by Thurston County and Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater.  

Staffers also propose renaming the equity evaluation criterion to “Title VI, ADA, and Transportation Barriers” to align with the TRPC Title VI plan and federal nondiscrimination requirements under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Americans with Disabilities Act.  

The requirements prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin and disability, and require agencies to identify and avoid disproportionately high and adverse impacts on protected populations. Aligning the evaluation criterion with TRPC’s Title VI Plan strengthens the legal defensibility, clarity and consistency of the funding process. 

Another proposal is refining the active transportation criterion to give priority to walking and bicycling improvements. The changes would recognize projects that improve conditions in rural areas, such as trail crossing upgrades and new paved shoulders. 

For the safety evaluation criterion, staff proposes recognizing shared-use trail improvements as safety priorities. The changes would award credit for trail repaving and resurfacing projects, as well as trail crossing upgrades.  

The 2026 Call for Projects will be the third and final funding cycle under the project prioritization process adopted by the TRPC in 2022. Previous funding rounds were held in 2022 and 2024.