Date:  Thursday, September 10, 2009

Contact: Paula Reeves, WSDOT Community Design Assistance 360-705-7258

OLYMPIA – Washington’s scenic highways offer travelers majestic views; glimpses of our cultural, historical and geological past; as well as access to a wide range of recreational and educational activities. The Washington State Department of Transportation invites you to help shape the future of the state’s scenic highways through a collaborative process to update the Scenic and Recreational Highways Plan.

WSDOT, with the assistance of a steering committee and local byways groups, is updating the Scenic and Recreational Highways element of the State Highway System Plan. There will be a public meeting on Thursday, Sept. 24, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at WSDOT’s Regional Headquarters, 1551 North Wenatchee Avenue, in Wenatchee.

The updated plan will include strategies for designating scenic highways, enhancing public access to these areas, and protecting and preserving some of the state’s most spectacular and diverse landscapes, including scenic, natural, recreational, cultural and historic resources. These strategies will be developed jointly by WSDOT; affected counties, cities and towns; regional transportation planning organizations; tribes; and other state and federal agencies. The plan will also help satisfy both the state and federal requirements and ensure consistency with federal policy.

With assistance and advice from an inter-disciplinary and multi-agency steering committee, WSDOT will develop background papers that will help form the foundation for the update of the plan.

Those who are unable to attend the meeting in Wenatchee, but would like to review and comment on the first background paper, “Policies, Practices and Process,” may do so online at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/LocalPrograms/ScenicByways/BywaysPlan.htm . Comments about the plan also can be submitted via e-mail: ReevesP@wsdot.wa.gov or by telephone: 360-705-7258.

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