Anyone who has driven on a road, ridden on a bus, used a sidewalk or crossed a bridge in Spokane County has been affected by the work of the Spokane Regional Transportation Council. Last fall, the council put out the 2026-2029 Transportation Improvement Plan, which outlines regional transportation projects, such as improvements and maintenance for those roads, buses, sidewalks and bridges and how they will be funded.
“Every project has to be planned out well ahead of time,” Spokane Regional Transportation Council Associate Transportation Planner Ben Kloskey said. “So, by developing this plan every year, we’re programming how we are going to lay out these next four years of federally funded or regionally significant projects. We also have to keep it fiscally constrained.”
The Spokane Regional Transportation Council functions as a Metropolitan Planning Organization, which, according to Kloskey, means that the organization serves as an intermediary between local agencies and the federal government. This year, the council did a Call For Projects, where agencies in Spokane County can apply for funding to use for local transportation projects and programs…