HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-2022 Policy Board Workshop Meeting Summary
Franklin County Planning Department 272 North Second Street Chambersburg, PA 17201 Phone: 717-261-3855 Fax: 717-264-8667 Email: planning@franklincountypa.gov
FRANKLIN COUNTY METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION WORKSHOP
January 28, 2022 - MEETING SUMMARY –
I. Welcome and Introductions
Steve Thomas began the workshop at 9:05 AM. Introductions were made and it was explained this workshop is not meant for decision making, it is educational only.
II. Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Development Process
Nate Walker, Transportation Planning Manager for PennDOT District 8-0, gave an overview of the TIP
development process such as the project programming and even/odd year TIP cycles. Please refer to the meeting materials provided.
PennDOT is focused on maintaining the assets we have statewide. The TIP has several different funding types and they have requirements for what the funding is dedicated to. Network screening data is a newer tool for identifying safety candidates and feeds the identification of safety candidates and
projects. PennDOT uses bridge and highway data that feeds into the selection process for the TIP projects as well as coordinates with the MPOs to reach a Draft TIP.
Without the recently passed Infrastructure Bill (also known as IIJA), the 2023 TIP would have only had 1 new project, but we now have 15 new projects. The Draft 2023 TIP will be finalized in the next few weeks, but Nate doesn’t believe there will be any substantial changes made from the version which was
shared with TAC and Policy Board members. Nate also mentioned the State Transportation Commission for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) has an open public comment period which is a great opportunity to submit concerns and be heard. MPO staff share survey links via email when they are available.
Brad Graham requested an acronym sheet, which Beth Raves and Kenana Korkutovic will follow up
with via email.
Brad Graham: Who provides the procedural and financial guidance that is issued for TIP development?
NateWalker: The federal funding is issued based on whatever the current infrastructure bill is in place. The MPO receives federal and state funding from the current infrastructure bill, which is dispersed based on a formula. A financial guidance workgroup is put together comprising of
PennDOT staff, FHWA, planning regions across the state, and staff level folks from different areas of expertise.
Beth Raves: The workgroup is on a volunteer basis and changes for each TIP.
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III. I-81 Improvement Strategy Findings
Brian Funkhouser introduced the I-81 Improvement Strategy (IS or “The Study”). The I-81 IS kicked off summer 2019 with Steve Deck at Tri-County Planning Commission as the project lead. We know the costs of what it would take to expand 81 to six lanes, but Steve Deck wanted to focus on what we can do to focus on safety, accessibility, and the immediate needs we can address. The I-81 Improvement
Strategy findings will also position the MPOs and PennDOT for any future federal funding for interstate.
Please refer to the meeting materials provided for a copy of the presentation.
Justin Gochenauer said the study chose focus areas throughout I-81. There was a public meeting for the Carlisle/Chambersburg focus areas in December 2021. The Chambersburg Focus Area entails three interchanges: Exit 14 (Wayne Ave), Exit 16 (US 30, Lincoln Way), and Exit 17 (Walker Road). Exit 12
was not included as part of the Focus Area because it is in the final design stage and not yet complete.
Todd Trautz explained the study found that Exits 14 and 16 are experiencing ramp and ramp terminal crashes in excess of similar roadways. HSM is a national resource to understand whether there is a safety problem. In the past, we would count the number of crashes. The HSM allows us to take a more statistical approach to understand and use predictive analysis. This is applied to the mainline of I-81 and
its ramps and cross-streets. Safety issues involve the ramps, along with the terminals and cross-streets on
US 30. For the mobility assessment, the study used observed data or vehicle probe data which is crowd-sourced as vehicles are traveling different roadways. It allows us to take insights into how roadways are operating in an observed capacity. The study used travel information from 2019. The land use assessment was accomplished through stakeholder interviews and the highway infrastructure assessment
was captured through PennDOT AM data. Please refer to the presentation for additional study findings.
The MPO is currently updating its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), which is the source of TIP projects and the first step in the planning process. Steve stated it’s important and required that we are fiscally constrained in the project list for the LRTP. We can have a conceptual “wish list” but we must put projects that we can afford within our financial guidance from PennDOT.
Brad Graham: Will projects with large price tags be avoided to make way for smaller projects?
Steve Thomas: We won’t delay bigger projects for smaller ones, but we do need to look at the bigger overall picture. The TIP is all-inclusive with bicycle/pedestrian, transit, resurfacing, etc. all using federal funds. In the LRTP, we identify projects we all share as a concern.
Nate Walker: Large projects in the LRTP could end up on the secretary’s desk as SPIKE funds.
However, to get to that point, the project needs to be programmed into the LRTP.
Brian Funkhouser: Franklin County receives about $10 million annually for the TIP and IIJA could add $6 million over the next four years of the TIP.
David Mackley: We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for funding at the moment. Why are we not taking advantage of it and using funds for widening I-81?
Nate Walker: As part of IIJA, the new funding is not just for highways and bridges. Over five
years, $351 million will be broken down across the state. Also, part of the funding was a replacement to the original funding from the FAST Act. The IIJA runs out in five years and no one can anticipate what the federal funding will look like after that. At this time, PennDOT is
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unable to dedicate funding to widening and it is important to note that it would take several years
to be “shovel-ready” due to NEPA, environmental justice, air quality, etc. that is needed for a project of that magnitude.
Commissioner David Keller: How the federal funding for IIJA is dispersed to the states and if there is a plan established with identified priorities and projects that they communicate to PennDOT?
Nate Walker: The federal government has formulas for each pot of money and they coordinate
with states on shared priorities. FHWA decides how much funding will go towards safety, bridges, and interstates via formulas.
Ronnique Bishop, Community Planner for FHWA: A lot of core funding programs are formula distributed and include implementation guidance. The guidance for IIJA is still rolling out and
FHWA is coordinating with the states.
Commissioner Keller: Who in the federal government decides whether any infrastructure money will be used to widen I-81 and when that decision would be made?
Ronnique Bishop: Congress apportions the bill and it is dependent on them. However, the FHWA Pennsylvania Division does not make these decisions, as they are focused on assisting
PennDOT and MPOs with the implementation of plans and guidance.
Commissioner Keller: requested for Ronnique to provide someone he could connect with at the federal level to discuss what the County’s focus on I-81 should be (See Page 4 for email follow-up from Ronnique).
Brian Funkhouser: The funding decision would ultimately be made by the Interstate Steering
Committee.
David Mackley: requested contact information for the Interstate Steering Committee and noted that FCADC, Sam Cressler, and the Franklin County Commissioners sent letters to Secretary Yassmin requesting I-81 be widened.
Sam Cressler: Is there a cost of delays to the trucking industry if they are missing pickup/dropoff times at their destinations due to delays on I-81?
Todd Trautz: There may be costs the private sector incurs, but that was not measured in the study.
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Email Follow-Up from Ronnique Bishop:
•Recently, FHWA’s and FTA’s Offices of Planning jointly issued a Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs) letter which describes federal planning priorities (see attached). The PEA’s take a lot of direction from the Executive Orders and the program areas supported by IIJA/BIL. The Division Office has shared this letter with PennDOT, MPOs,
and RPOs and we realize that many work products are already aligned with the PEAs – which are great. Please note that this is not a USDOT policy document. Simply put, FHWA and FTA work with the State and local planning partners to seek opportunities for incorporating these planning priorities within the transportation
planning program.
•How funds from federal legislation are used by the State and local planning partners are not ultimately decided by FHWA. The federal-aid program is state-administered, federally-assisted – meaning:
o Congress sets the formulas to distribute the federal funds to the states (via 23 USC 104(b));
o State DOTs have the authority on how to sub-allocate/administer any of those federal funds within the state and according to eligibility requirements set by federal regulations;
o FHWA assists the State by providing guidance on the federal regulations set by Congress and ensuring that local and State planning partners who receive federal funding are in compliance with those federal regulations regarding all aspects of programming, project development, and delivery.
In other words, FHWA’s role in this process is to provide stewardship and oversight of the transportation program and federal dollars that are being applied to transportation projects that PennDOT and the Planning Partners have jointly agreed to plan and program. FHWA encourages a continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative (3C) transportation planning process amongst all transportation stakeholders.
o More information on the planning process and FHWA’s role can be found in: The Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book: Key Issues for Transportation Decisionmakers, Officials, and Staff
o PennDOT also developed Publication 10 Design Manual Part 1 Transportation Program Development and Project Delivery Process and includes some graphics (pgs. 13, 42, 43) that explain in detail how project needs are identified, evaluated and ultimately programmed. This Publication is from 2015, so please
check in with PennDOT to ensure this is the most recent version and discuss how to best share these with the board members.
•How federal funds will be programmed to support the I-81 improvement strategy is within the authority of the State in collaboration with local planning partners. Here are some avenues for how project needs might be identified and programmed:
o The I-81 Project Management Committee includes Franklin, Lebanon, and Tri-County MPOs, PennDOT District 8-0 and FHWA. In this Committee, FHWA holds an advisory role, not outstepping its function as stated in the point above.
o As candidate projects are identified in Phase 2 of the I-81 improvement strategy, there will be opportunities to discuss with PennDOT how these projects might be programmed on the MPO TIP/STIP or Long Range Transportation Plan.
One avenue the I-81 improvement strategy recommendations can be further prioritized is to have discussions on how those recommendations will be considered in the Franklin County LRTP process. Franklin’s LRTP update is currently in the early stages of development so this is an optimal time to discuss how to incorporate the I-81 strategy within the LRTP.
•There’s a good amount of information about BIL on the FHWA’s BIL website. Please see some resources below.
o How federal-aid highway program funds are apportioned for FY 22:https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/legsregs/directives/notices/n4510858/
o Pennsylvania Fact Sheet Highlighting Benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2022-01/BIL_Pennsylvania.pdf
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o The BIL also reauthorized the RAISE discretionary grant program and established several new
discretionary grant programs. The RAISE Notice of Funding was just released and more information canbe found here: https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants/raise-nofo
•Another avenue worth exploring is to discuss innovative financing strategies that can supplement traditional,grant-based financing methods. I attached the Innovative Finance for Planners Briefing Book as a resource. Thisbriefing book was released in October 2021 and produced by the FHWA Center for Innovative Finance with
assistance from the FHWA Office of Planning and the Office of Federal Lands Highway.
Comments from Chatbox:
Samuel Cressler 9:35 AM Interesting to see the photo on the cover. Where is that three-lane section at? David Mackley 9:36 AM Looks like Harrisburg right before the Enola exit and the bridge. Our efforts should ALL BE ABOUT WIDENING. that's the solution to congestion and safety Samuel Cressler 9:56 AM Poor Nathan is stuck with giving the spin. This is a true crisis that affects the entire northeast Samuel Cressler 10:10 AM About 1/2 of the exits between the MD line and the Susquehanna River are warehouse terminals with three RR intermodal. Green castle, Chambersburg and Harrisburg David Mackley 10:11 AM FCADC is estimating the potential for 13+million MORE SF of warehouse and distribution space in Franklin County over the next three years. More trucks and more congestion are coming... Samuel Cressler 10:17 AM You should just add the length south to the new exit Samuel Cressler 10:22 AM Our rescue fire company responded 77 times in 2021 to I-81 for accidents and such between mm20 and mm37 Samuel Cressler 10:24 AM Can it calculate the disruption created when a truck doing 60 is passing a truck doing 58? where a third lane would not impede auto traffic Samuel Cressler 10:26 AM our rescue is not seeing the crashes primarily at the exits Ronnique Bishop 10:39 AM Here is the link to FHWA's BIL website fact sheets, for your information: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/fact_sheets.cfm Steven Thomas 10:43 AM https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/infrastructure/truck_parking/index.htm John Flannery 10:44 AM I have to exit the meeting, my analogy; we are spending a lot of time and money replacing band-aids on a laceration that just needs stitches. Samuel Cressler 10:44 AM Are we considering the traffic signal coordination now taking place Steven Thomas10:44 AM Thank you, Commissioner Flannery, we've noted your comment, and have a great day https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop19062/whatis.htm Steven Thomas 10:49 AM Yes, Sam, when working with Baker and PennDOT on this project we provided related studies and information that may affect I-81 including studies, signal projects, and potential developments Nathan Walker 10:54 AM Putting my acting planner hat on, if municipalities need to do an update to their land use plans, develop or update official maps...etc., there is guidance and the potential for funding to be provided through PennDOT connects. https://www.penndot.gov/ProjectAndPrograms/Planning/Documents/PennDOTConnects/Tech-Sheets/Accommodating_Growth.pdf