The next round of upgrades for Thompson Road, from Saltzman to Marcotte, is still in the design phase, but in October Washington County will begin to purchase the necessary Right of Way (ROW) from landowners along the route. The main focus is to add a center turn lane, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Improved storm drains, signage, and street lighting will also be part of the project.

Neighbors who use the road and particularly those who live nearby have long been concerned about safety, particularly at intersections and along the curves. There were questions about why the county didn’t follow its initial plan to straighten out the curve. In some cases, sight distance—the ability of motorists and pedestrians to see hazards (other cars, people, or debris in the roadway)—will be somewhat improved as part of the plan.

Questions remain about how the county will deal with the road improvements adjacent to the proposed Thompson Crossing development. The developer would have been required to dedicate ROW and build the half-street improvement of Thompson along the frontage (road widening, bike lanes, sidewalks etc.) as one of the “Conditions of Approval” for the project that was approved after Biggi Investments LLC sued the county for taking too long. But that doesn’t go into effect until the development begins, and nothing has been submitted. (The developer could decide not to proceed, or could sell the property to someone else.) So it’s unclear whether the county will actually have to buy ROW from the property owner, in addition to building the improvements, and whether there’s a way to recover the costs once the housing development is built. We hope to have answers from Washington County to share in a future article.

Detailed project maps are on the county Project Page. Engineering design is anticipated to be complete by June 2026, with construction starting around September 2026, and finishing December 2027. The estimated $8.6 million cost is paid from MSTIP and the Bonny Slope West System Development Charge funds, which were required to be paid by developments within the area that was annexed into the county in 2014.