Street Projects

The City of Washington utilizes the ½ cent Transportation sales tax to pay for roadway improvement projects. The tax also pays off the bonds for the City’s portion of widening of Highway 100 to 4 lanes from Highway 44 to High Street.

The City looks for all opportunities to save cost on projects and works hard to get grant funding for projects. Much of the funding comes from Federal Funds through STP or CMAQ grants. We partner with the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to apply and care out these grant projects. These grants usually have 80% Federal funding and 20% City match funding.

Past projects with Federal participation include Bieker-Steutermann Road 2019, West Main Street 2019, High Street in 2020, Busch Creek Trail Project 2021, Westlink Drive 2023.

The City also looks for Franklin County grants opportunities and other ways to get more roadway improvement projects.

The Street projects often include sidewalk repairs and replacements. In 2018 the City of Washington adopt an ADA Transition Plan (see link). It is a Federal requirement to get sidewalks up to ADA standards and the Transition Plan helps identify which areas are of primary concern and when the City will get the sidewalks replaced and up to current standards.

The City performs street ratings using the PASER system to determine street condition and help prioritize street improvement projects.

As part of the recent Comprehensive Plan the City has adopted a Street Plan to include major roadway projects and proposed new roadways and connections. One major connection that has been in planning for the City since the 1980’s is the East-West Parkway which is a loop route south of the City to help facilitate traffic east and west. The First stretch of this roadway was finally constructed in 2024 off Bieker Road.

Other recent connection made was Rabbit Trail Drive south to Bieker Road in 2023. Now there is a connection of Rabbit Trail Drive from Bieker Road to Highway 100.

As a result there is often congestion at Rabbit Trail Drive and Highway 100. To help with this the City is working on a connection from Rabbit Trail Drive to North Crest Drive behind Phoenix Center. This connection will be called Fox Crest Drive and help move traffic off Rabbit Trail Drive to Phoenix Center and provide an alternate route to Highway 100 for traffic heading east. This connection is planned to be constructed by 2026.

Anyone looking to do work in public right of way or close down a City street for any reason will need to contact the Engineering Department and fill out the appropriate permits. See “Applications & Permits” below.

CURRENT PROJECTS