Transportation Safety Action Plan (TSAP)

The Deschutes County Transportation Safety Action Plan (TSAP) provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to transportation safety in Deschutes County. The TSAP evaluates crash trends and issues based on current data and identifies a broad range of treatments including projects, policies, and programs, to address identified issues, focusing on the rural areas of the County and the cities of La Pine, Redmond, and Sisters area outside the Bend Urban Growth Boundary. The current TSAP was adopted in September 2019.

Questions and comments regarding the project can be submitted using the “Questions and Comments” feature below.

WHAT IS A TSAP?

The Deschutes County Transportation Safety Action Plan (TSAP) is a safety planning document which provides the following functions:

Finds areas where reported transportation crashes are most common
Identifies crash patterns related to location, roadway conditions, and more
Develops solutions (projects and actions)
Creates a decision-making framework for the County
Helps the County increase its eligibility for state and federal funding for safety projects

Typical transportation safety solutions in a TSAP include:

Intersection improvements
Signing and striping enhancements
Better lighting

UPDATING THE TSAP

Deschutes County continues its goal of zero fatal or serious injury crashes on its streets and highways. To reach this goal, the County is updating their 2019 TSAP for unincorporated county areas. The TSAP update will incorporate the most recent reported crash data, as well as account for changes in demand on the County road system.

Deschutes County Road Department has utilized the existing TSAP to deliver more than 10 capital improvement projects which addressed safety concerns identified in the 2019 TSAP analysis, along with numerous other low-cost safety improvements throughout the County.

TSAP UPDATE STUDY AREA

The study area for the Deschutes County TSAP Update will focus on all public roads within the county and outside of all incorporated city boundaries.

WHAT WILL THE TSAP ACCOMPLISH?

This project will:

Identify goals, policies, and strategies to facilitate a safer multimodal transportation network in rural Deschutes County.
Use crash data, school safety audits, and community input to identify high-risk areas and guide future improvements.
Increase safety for all roadway users traveling to their destinations, including the most vulnerable (e.g., pedestrians, bicyclists), with engineering, education, emergency response, and enforcement strategies.
Incorporate equity to ensure safety strategies benefit everyone, especially historically underserved communities.

ESTIMATED COST AND SCHEDULE

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded the County a $144,000 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant in early 2024 to update its TSAP. There may be other grants that the County can pursue in the future to fund the implementation of recommendations in the TSAP. The estimated total project cost is $187,000.

The anticipated project schedule is shown below:

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Perspectives and input from members of the public are an important element of updating this plan. The County invites community members to share their thoughts on how rural transportation safety can be improved in Deschutes County. The Engagement Strategy for the TSAP Update is provided below under “Supporting Documents”.

Two Virtual Open Houses are planned for Spring and Summer 2025. Additional details on each event will be provided here in advance – be sure to check back periodically for updates.

PROJECT TEAM

Project Management Team (PMT)

Cody Smith, County Engineer/Assistant Road Department Director
Blaine Wruck, Senior Transportation Engineer
Chris Doty, Road Department Director

Consultant Team

Matt Kittelson, PE, Consultant Project Manager, Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
Miranda Barrus, PE, Consultant Deputy Project Manager, Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
Joel McCarroll, PE, Consultant Project Principal, DKS Associates