Woodway Beach Road and the Math Behind Woodway's Streets
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
"Paved roads, surprisingly, are not required."
Mayor Mike Quinn wrote that line in his memo on Woodway's preliminary 2027 budget, dated October 5, 2026. He was sorting the town's spending into three groups: mandatory, essential and discretionary. Roads ended up in the essential group. The law doesn't require them, but the memo says most residents would treat them as essential.
That line helps explain two street changes this season. One is a new name for a road. The other is a round of repaving. Both show that Woodway's streets carry the town's revenue as much as its traffic. A road name decides where sales tax goes, and a grant decides which streets get new asphalt. The rename takes effect in 2027, and the 2027 budget proposal plans another, larger round of grant-funded paving after this year's.
On November 2, 2026, the Woodway Town Council passed Resolution 2026-483. It renames the part of Richmond Beach Drive N.W. inside town limits to Woodway Beach Road.
The draft in the November 2 agenda packet had the change starting November 15, 2026. The resolution the Mayor signed starts it on January 1, 2027. If you saw the November date earlier this fall, the road keeps its current name until New Year's Day.
The resolution is short. It says:
The resolution gives two reasons for the rename. The first is to "avoid confusion with roads in neighboring jurisdictions." The second is more direct: "the Town wants to differentiate the addresses in Woodway from those in neighboring jurisdictions to ensure that sales tax revenue is properly allocated."
The second reason carries extra weight because of how small Woodway's finances are. The 2027 preliminary budget projects General Fund revenue of $2,269,434 against expenses of $2,411,555. When the gap is about $142,000 a year, sales tax credited to the wrong city is real money. A street name that clearly says Woodway helps keep that money in town.
The same budget explains why the Town looks hard at every revenue source. Police, fire and emergency services now run through a separate Public Safety Fund. For 2027, that fund expects about $638,000 from the voter-approved public safety levy plus a $620,000 transfer from the operating budget. The Mayor's memo says the transfer is expected to stay at $620,000 a year through 2030, drop to $300,000 from 2031 to 2036, and end in 2037. It also says more voter-approved funding will be needed in 2030 and 2036 to keep public safety staffing where it is.
Every operating dollar sent to public safety is a dollar not available for anything else. That includes roads, which by the Mayor's own account the town isn't required to pave.
Because the town has so little operating room, its paving runs mostly on state grants. The 2026 work came through the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board's Small City Preservation Program. TIB's project page lists it as Woodway's "2026 Overlay," funded in the FY 2027 cycle.
The project started with a street survey the Town finished in June 2024. The survey found four road segments with Pavement Condition Ratings from 54 to 59. TIB's page calls that "poor pavement quality" and says these segments are among the town's most urgent repair needs. The work is a 2-inch grind and overlay on these stretches:
| Street | Segment |
|---|---|
| 113th Place W | 238th St SW to 240th St SW |
| 116th Avenue W | South town limit to 241st St |
| 238th Street SW | Woodway Park Road to Timber Lane |
The funding split shows how much the state carries:
| TIB funds | Local funds | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design | $58,158 | $6,448 | $64,606 |
| Construction | $523,363 | $58,031 | $581,394 |
| Project total, as listed by TIB | $581,520 | $64,480 | $646,000 |
TIB paid 90% of the project and Woodway paid the 10% minimum match. The minutes from the Town Council's July 6 meeting say the 2026 overlays were underway at that point.
The 2027 plan expects even more paving. The Mayor's memo says the Town's non-binding six-year Transportation Improvement Plan calls for $950,000 in overlays in 2027. It adds that the Town is "likely to be awarded grant funding" from TIB to cover "a significant portion of paving four streets." The preliminary budget sets aside about $941,000 to bid those overlays in 2027, with an estimated $847,000 coming from grants.
That is roughly 90% grant funding again, on a project about half again as large as this year's. The memo does not name the four streets. Separately, the six-year plan the Council saw in June lists these three repair-and-overlay projects and their planned costs:
The budget also relies on real estate excise tax, which Woodway collects when property sells in town. The memo keeps the 2027 estimate at $120,000 and notes that "these funds are never expended until after we receive them." A recent change in state law lets the Town move up to $100,000 of that money each year into the operating budget to maintain certain capital assets. The Town plans to move the full $100,000 in 2027.
For residents who walk more than they drive, the 2027 proposal has one new item. The Mayor's memo says discretionary spending is about 10% of the proposed operating budget and covers things like parks maintenance, the Town Administrator and the Town Fair. It continues: "The only new item in this category for next year's budget is a refresh of the walking trails in the Woodway Highlands neighborhood."
By comparison, essential services make up about 69% of the proposed operating budget, and mandatory costs such as State Auditor and County election charges make up about 21%. In that budget, a trail refresh in one neighborhood is the main new spending choice for 2027.
The Public Safety Fund side of the proposal includes $25,000 for emergency preparedness. That covers a backup power supply for Town Hall and support for Woodway Ready!.
The Council's November 2 agenda included a public hearing on the final 2027 budget, Ordinance 2026-683 to adopt it, and Resolution 2026-484 setting the 2027 property tax. The paving plan and the Highlands trail refresh are part of that budget. The preliminary calendar lists December 7 as the last chance to approve an amendment to the 2026 budget, if one is needed. On January 1, 2027, the signs along Richmond Beach Drive N.W. inside town limits will start to read Woodway Beach Road.
If you own a home on the soon-to-be Woodway Beach Road and are thinking about how the new address will look on a listing, an appraisal or a title report next year, Adam Cobb & Team can help you plan the timing. Start by requesting your complimentary home valuation.
With an unwavering commitment to client satisfaction, Adam's approach is both approachable and highly responsive, earning praise for his ability to exceed expectations. Let Adam Cobb and his team guide you through a seamless real estate experience. With us, your goals are always our priority, and our expertise is your advantage.