This bill amends RCW 47.04.035 to require the state transportation “department” to incorporate complete streets principles into certain state highway construction projects. It is a procedural change to planning, design, and construction requirements rather than a new crime or penalty. The change directs the department to identify gaps in pedestrian, bicycle, and ADA-accessible facilities, consult with local jurisdictions, consider speed management and lower speed limits where warranted, and design context-sensitive facilities and crossings to improve connectivity and safety. The new duties apply to state transportation construction projects (excluding chip seal, repairs, maintenance, or repaving) that begin design on or after July 1, 2022 and cost $500,000 or more. Projects must identify locations lacking sidewalks, shared-use paths, or bicycle facilities; confirm connections to public transportation; and plan and construct needed ADA-accessible sidewalks, shared-use paths, bicycle facilities, and crossings. The department may adjust speed limits with appropriate roadway design and operations modifications consistent with a safe system approach. Exemptions include emergency repairs to reopen a highway after disasters or hazards and work that keeps the system in a state of good repair without expanding the roadway. The department may still choose to add complete streets elements to projects not covered by the requirement. Maintenance of any facilities built under this provision remains governed by existing law, and the section does not create a private right of action. The law also allows the department not to perform the analysis or add facilities where they do not currently exist for justifiable reasons, where safety concerns cannot be addressed, or where costs are unreasonable given project goals and expected use. The extracted text does not identify which specific agency is meant by “the department,” and it cites RCW 47.24.020 and 2022 c 182 s 418 without including their contents. It is not clear from these facts whether additional sections, definitions, or an effective date appear elsewhere in the bill.

If enacted, state transportation projects that begin design on or after July 1, 2022 and cost $500,000 or more will be required to identify gaps in sidewalks, bike facilities, crossings and ADA access on state rights-of-way, consult nearby local jurisdictions about active transportation and transit connections, and incorporate context-sensitive pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities and speed-management changes where local plans or safety data support them. Emergency reopenings and routine maintenance or repaving (including chip seal) are exempt, the department can still choose modifications on exempt projects, maintenance of any new facilities remains governed by existing law, and the law does not create a private right of action; the department may also decline to add facilities when there are justifiable reasons, clear safety concerns, or when costs are unreasonable. The agency identified only as “the department” will bear the most direct impact, facing added planning, design, consultation, and likely higher upfront construction costs on qualifying projects, while local jurisdictions will have a greater role in shaping multimodal connections and potential speed changes. Important implementation details are unclear from the text provided, including which specific agency is meant by “the department,” how costs will be allocated, and what standards will define “unreasonable cost” or justify not adding facilities.