Improvement Prog.

Road Priority Program (Traffic Improvement Program)

"Petitions can bring our attention to problem roads. However, road condition, traffic volume, and type of use should actually drive the system so that the quietly suffering farmer on a bad road gets the same attention as the squeaky wheel."

A Road Priority Program has been in use by this department since 1974. It began as an "Advance Road Planning Program" which was designed to be used by the Court as an aid or tool for programming construction jobs for the improvement of the Wasco County road system.

Each county road receives a rating review on a three year cycle. Each cycle produces a six year capital improvement list identifying roads needing some degree of maintenance or reconstruction improvement.

This priority rating program is now known as the "Transportation Improvement Program". The program is quite comprehensive and utilizes many and varied governing factors. The biggest factor influencing any road improvement project is that of traffic usage. This usage is usually determined on the basis of the average daily traffic count. Functional classification is another key element and is used to make sure that equal road segments are compared throughout the county road network.

The rating process attempts to evaluate two basic qualities of all roadway segments:

• Condition - How does the road compare with standards?
• Service - How important is the road?

Condition rating is the physical inspection for each road segment evaluating different components with our standards for each type of roadway. This rating is done by staff and the results will be combined with the service ratings for the final report.

Service rating is the evaluation of the importance of a road in relation to other roads of the same classification. The Court assists this office by supplying direct input into the service ratings by independently evaluating the four categories on the basis of their own judgment. Public input, calls, and comments are discussed and considered when evaluating these four categories. The four categories are economy, recreation, service, and community.

The rating summary sheet below is the results of combining the condition ratings and the service ratings. This listing shows a priority rating for each of the road segments that will be considered for future improvement. Staff then provides the Court with a proposed improvement schedule recommendation for their approval and adoption.

All Wasco County Public Works Capital Improvement Projects currently face financial constraints.

This proposed list is established to identify potential road improvements, in no particular order. These improvements can only be accomplished if adequate funding becomes available.

Wasco County Public Works makes the following recommendations for major road projects for the period of 2000 through 2006. This list is largely unfunded: