In 2017 the City Council, at staff’s recommendation, codified a Complete Streets policy that starts with the following statement,

“The city of Richland shall, to the maximum extent practical, scope, plan, design, construct, operate and maintain appropriate facilities for the safe accommodation of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, motorists, emergency responders, freight and users of all ages and abilities in all new construction, retrofit, and reconstruction projects.” This chapter of the municipal code empowers and directs the City’s staff of professional traffic and transportation engineers to prioritize the safety, comfort and mobility of all street system users in every project they undertake.

Complete Streets Policy

Resolution No. 2024-64 was approved by Council on May 7, 2024, adopting the City Speed Limit Setting Policy. This utilizes the latest research in speed limit setting. It incorporates urban context, functional class, and other relevant elements like collision history, traffic volume, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities to provide a suggested speed limit with a goal of injury minimization on City streets. 

Speed Limit Setting Policy & Step-by-Step Procedures

The City has an annual program that solicits petitions from neighborhoods to perform traffic calming on City streets. This program is meant to create a safer, more comfortable environment for active transportation users on residential streets. For more information, please visit the following: 

• Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program
• Resolution No. 2023-17

Resolution No. 2024-74 was approved by Council on June 4, 2024, which adopted the Safe Routes to School Plan. It provides a thorough analysis of walk-routes for students and crash history. It prioritizes several active transportation projects at Richland School District elementary school walk/bike routes. The City utilizes this plan to apply to WSDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program grants. These discrete projects make their way on the City’s Capital Improvements Program and Transportation Improvement Program regardless of funding status with WSDOT.

2024 Safe Routes to School Plan 

An element to the City’s annual Pavement Preservation Program is finding opportunities to utilize the existing road width to repurpose roadway space for dedicated bike lanes and buffered bike lanes. These projects also include ADA ramp improvements at all intersections adjacent to the project and are often supplemented with sidewalk infill work.

In 2020, the Council completed the Downtown Connectivity Study to address the challenges of George Washington Way and Jadwin Avenue, being large arterial streets, bisecting the downtown core and having no comfortable bicycle facilities.

• Council, by Resolution No. 98-20, committed to modifications to George Washington Way and Jadwin Avenue that would convert the two streets into a one-way couplet.
  • This design will result in a significant road diet, reducing the number of vehicle lanes while maintaining an acceptable level-of-service for vehicle mobility with the added benefit of creating bicycle facilities, enhanced pedestrian crossing features, and more comfortable walking areas.
• The City has begun design of this project, was successful in grant seeking, and expects to begin construction in 2025.

For more information and updates please visit the following website: 

The City completed and the Council adopted the Island View to Vista Field Trail System plan, in partnership with the City of Kennewick and the Benton Franklin Council of Governments, that will result in many pedestrian and bicycle improvement features in the Columbia Center area. The City was successful in having a pedestrian and bicycle crossing over SR-240 partially funded through the legislature’s Move Ahead Washington funding package. The City is actively working with several grant programs and its legislative representatives to complete the funding for this project.

For more information and updates please visit the following website: 

Island View to Vista Field Trail System

In 2023 the City constructed a new segment of active transportation path parallel to SR240. The project provides a safe, separate facility for pedestrians and bicyclists between the existing path facilities parallel to north Stevens Drive and the Horn Rapids residential community.

In 2022 the City completed an upgrade project at every traffic signal in the City. The improvement project included specific features benefitting pedestrian safety:

• Reflective signal head backplates improves driver awareness of traffic signal indication.

• Placement of traffic signal heads at crosswalks for signal indication in the Driver’s field of vision.

• Introduced the Leading Pedestrian Interval feature that keeps all vehicle signals in a red condition while a pedestrian is allowed to start their crossing movement.

• Upgrades pedestrian signals. 

In 2022, the City completed the Jadwin Avenue Overlay Project. The project principally scoped as a simple pavement maintenance project, was leveraged to make significant traffic safety improvements. City Council approved a budget amendment to activate this opportunity resulting in:  

• Reduced the number and width of vehicle lanes.
• Repurposed area for bike lanes
• ADA sidewalk, driveway, and ramp improvements
• Enhanced pedestrian crossing features and rapid flashing beacons at Chief Joseph Middle School including pedestrian refuge islands.
• Enhanced crossing features and rapid flashing beacons at Catskill
• Improved intersection and corridor street lighting.

The City has acquired and dedicated the following funding sources to traffic safety improvements:

• Washington State Department of Transportation Highway Safety Improvement Program
• Washington State Traffic Safety Commission
• Federal Surface Transportation Program Block Grant
• Federal Surface Transportation Program – Transportation Alternatives Program
• Transportation Improvement Board Complete Streets Award
• Community Development Block Grant
• Real Estate Excise Tax
• Public Safety Sales Tax
• Washington State legislative appropriation through the Moving Ahead Washington Program.
• USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All Program.