Planning study guidance

Find the guidance and tools to conduct and document a planning study.

Current guidance

The M2 Team expects to review all plans and studies with a T program budget nexus.
Document that the M2 Team review is complete before briefing the Regional Administrator and the Multimodal Planning and Data Division Director for final signatures.
After the planning study is signed, the final is published by the website Construction and Planning Content Lead only after the Region Planning Manager forwards them a WSDOT Library read receipt.
Use these planning best practices as your guide.
Check with the M2 Team Subject Matter Experts for additional requirements for Proviso funded and PEL studies.

Explore active transportation-related considerations to develop a quality planning study.

Consider priority design issues in the planning phase to reduce or redirect efforts during scoping and design.

Apply this guidance to include environmental considerations in planning studies.

Use this guidance to incorporate freight consideration in the planning study development.

Use this guidance to inform planning study recommendations in the context of statewide needs, priorities, and future system performance.

Use this guidance to include transportation-efficient land use considerations in your plan or study.

Avoid maintenance issues down the road by including this guidance in your planning process.

Use this guidance to clarify your planning study recommendations in a way that WSDOT can support from a priority and programming perspective.

Use this guidance to include public transportation considerations in the process of developing planning studies.

Consideration of safety performance should be a part of the conversation throughout plan development (continuing through programming and design).

Discover how incorporating transportation operations tools into your planning studies will benefit the project through its lifecycle.

Use these recent examples of planning studies and subject matter expert content as your guide.

Drive the posted speeds, they’re there for your safety.

Pay attention – both to workers directing you and to surrounding traffic.

Expect delays, leave early or take an alternate route if possible; no appointment is worth risking someone’s life.