The legislature recognizes the increasing traffic volumes on the state route number 2 corridor, between one mile west of state route number 522 and Wenatchee. The legislature also recognizes the need to study the impact of traffic on safety and mobility in the corridor and plan for future investments to improve safety and mobility.
The department of transportation shall study traffic flow, safety, and mobility along the state route number 2 corridor between Monroe and Wenatchee and propose investments, which may include improvement projects, preservation, and maintenance. The department of transportation shall conduct public outreach and engagement with communities along the corridor, including public meetings. At a minimum, the communities of Wenatchee, Cashmere, Leavenworth, Skykomish, Index, Gold Bar, Sultan, and Monroe must be notified and invited to participate.
In conducting this study, the department of transportation shall use studies, designs, plans, and other documents that are presented to them by stakeholders along the corridor including, but not limited to, proposed solutions that have been identified by the city of Sultan to address mobility and safety and improvements as well as those proposed solutions identified in the Chelan-Douglas transportation council's upper Wenatchee Valley transportation corridor study.
The department of transportation shall submit a preliminary report to the office of financial management and the transportation committees of the legislature by December 1, 2022. The report must include a list of recommended improvements along the corridor. Identified improvements shall address mobility, safety, and other concerns with the corridor, as identified through the public outreach and engagement conducted in subsection (1) of this section. Each recommended improvement shall include an estimated total cost of all phases, as well as cost estimates for each phase of each identified improvement.