Transportation
The City of Ridgefield has been working through Envision Ridgefield 2045, a process to update the city’s Comprehensive Growth Plan and remain consistent with the requirements of the Washington Growth Management Act (GMA). Transportation is one element of the Comprehensive Plan.
Overview
The Transportation element of Envision Ridgefield 2045 addresses the role of Ridgefield's transportation system as a key part of everyday life. Transportation is more than just streets, it is a system of roads, trails, sidewalks, bridges and public transportation that connect our homes to schools, workplaces, parks, family and services.
The Transportation Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) supports the Transportation Element and defines future multimodal transportation system needs for the next 20 years. A capital facilities plan (CFP) is a required element of county and city comprehensive plans. The CFP consists of an inventory of existing capital facilities owned by the City, a forecast of the future needs for such capital facilities, the proposed locations and capacities of expanded or new capital facilities, and at least a six-year plan that will finance such capital facilities within projected funding capacities. That six-year plan is the Transportation Improvement Program, updated annually.
The current Transportation CFP was adopted with the 2016 Comprehensive Plan and has undergone minor modifications, specifically to the CFP Map and Transportation Impact Fee project list, in the years since.
2025-2045 Transportation Capital Facilities Plan
The Transportation Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) supports the Transportation Element and defines future multimodal transportation system needs for the next 20 years.
CFP Map
An important function of the CFP is to identify the location and functional classification of existing and future public streets in Ridgefield. The CFP Map is used during development planning to determine frontage improvements that will be built by developers.
Draft CFP Map - Click to enlargeMulti-Modal Transportation Trails
The Draft 2025-2045 CFP includes Multi-Modal Transportation Trails. These are citywide trails for pedestrians and cyclists with a transportation focus. A change in State legislation in 2023 makes these trails eligible for Transportation Impact Fees. These trails also provide an alternative to vehicle trips and increases safety for users of all abilities.
Highlights & Changes
- Reference to the Ridgefield/ I-5 South Connector project's study area, rather than a specific alignment, to reflect there are several alternatives still under consideration.
- Reference to the S 35th Avenue/Gee Creek Plateau Extension project and the two "build" alternatives carried forward by Council late in 2024 into the Environmental Stage of that project, which is currently underway.
- Reference to a potential new overcrossing of I-5 north of Pioneer Street (either N 10th Street or N 20th Street), which will be the subject of a future study.
- Reference to S 10th/11th Street overcrossing project, which includes consideration of a roundabout at its eastern terminus at Union Ridge Parkway.
- Removal of a few collector links that have been shown to be financially and/or environmentally infeasible.
- Realignment of several collectors to reflect design and built alignments.
- Incorporation of two new State-Required elements, Multimodal Level-of-Service and Climate Change and Resiliency.
Transportation Impact Fees
Future roadways shown on the CFP are required to be built by developers as projects in the vicinity develop. Such roadways are also eligible to be added to the Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) list and thereby become TIF-creditable. The TIF project list is included with this CFP.
This CFP also includes a lookup table which calculates the appropriate TIF assessment based on specific land uses. This has been requested by the development community to expedite the TIF calculation and assessment process. The lookup table makes assessments more predictable and saves the cost of hiring traffic consultants for each project.
Review the Draft TIF Rates and Adjustments Table (PDF)
Transporation construction costs have increased anywhere from 50-80% between 2016 and 2024. Accounting for the increase in costs, as well as costs for future projects in the transportation project list for the CFP leads to an approximately 40% increased cost per trip over the current rate. An updated TIF rate will be considered after CFP adoption.
Next Steps
The Draft Transportation CFP will be presented to City Council for discussion and consideration at the Thursday, June 12 regular meeting, accompanied by a Public Hearing. Community members are invited to provide public comment when invited during the Public Hearing.
An updated TIF rate, and a new TIF rate for the Gee Creek Plateau and Carty Road Overlays, will be considered after the Transportation CFP is adopted.
The Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan will continue to be developed throughout the remainder of 2025.
