Page 58 - TransportationPlanUsetsGuide

Urban Road Maintenance District
The Urban Road Maintenance District (URMD) was approved by voters in urban unincorporated Washington County to
improve the condition of unincorporated Local Streets and Neighborhood Routes. The district was formed in 1987 and
funding was approved for the district in 1994, both by approval of voters in unincorporated Washington County. At the
time URMD was formed, urban local roads had deteriorated due to lack of funding for preventative maintenance. The
intent was to fund maintenance to prevent further deterioration to protect the traveling public, to preserve assets, and
to enhance property values. Before 1994 more than 80 miles of Neighborhood Routes or Local Roads were classified
as being in poor or very poor condition, and only 77 percent were in fair or better condition. Ballot Measure 50 in 1997
made the URMD levy permanent at a rate of $0.2456 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. URMD funds road mainte-
nance for approximately 430 miles of Neighborhood Routes and Local Streets within its district. URMD funds cannot be
used outside of its district, or for maintenance needs on Arterials or Collectors. In 2011 the Board of Commissioners
expanded the list of eligible activities under URMD to include safety improvements (e.g., sidewalks, bike lanes, paved
shoulders) on any road (including Arterials and Collectors) within the district.

Gravel Road Upgrade Program
Over the past two decades the subject of forming road maintenance districts in the rural area, or expanding the URMD
to include the rural area, has periodically surfaced without any positive results. To address the problem of deteriorating
gravel roads and increased dust damage to nearby crops, Washington County developed a program to upgrade some
rural Local Roads from gravel to a hard chip-seal surface. The chip-seal process involves applying two to three layers of
rock and emulsified asphalt to create a hard-driving surface. Since upgrading all gravel roads to hard surface is expen-
sive, a prioritization methodology to select roads for chip-sealing was developed based on crop frontage, number of
houses, traffic volumes, and other factors. On average, several miles of gravel roadway per year were upgraded to chip-
seal through the Gravel Road Upgrade Program. Funding for this program has been discontinued as of 2013, so there
have not been any new projects under this program.

ROADWAY GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES

This section includes the goals, objectives, and strategies specifically associated with the roadway system. It includes
Goal 5: Mobility, Goal 6: Accessibility and Goal 7: Connectivity. These goals, objectives, and strategies help implement
the guiding principles described in Part 2 of this document. They outline and guide the development, design, and man-
agement of a transportation system that:
• Provides a network of multimodal transportation facilities and operational systems intended for travel
between points A and B,
• Connects and integrates land use and transportation,

• Provides multiple travel routes and connections within and between parts of the community, and
• Provides for travel by all modes including walking, bicycling and public transit.

New and improved connections, with rare exception, are to be implemented as “complete streets” within the urban
area. Complete streets are roadways designed and operated with all users in mind – people walking, bicycling, using
mobility devices, transit, cars, motorcycles, and freight vehicles. Complete streets provide for the safe, comfortable, and
convenient movement of people of all ages, abilities, and means. Transportation system design also must respond to
land use patterns and community needs. Existing and future development patterns determine where homes, schools,
work, shopping, and other activities are located, and can profoundly affect the way in which we move about.

46 PART 3: TRANSPORTATION MODAL ELEMENTS
Effective November 27, 2015 • Updated December, 15 2016