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Centre
County
Metropolitan
Planning Organization (CCMPO)
Coordinating Committee Meeting
Tuesday, February
24, 2009
6:00 pm
College
Township
Municipal
Building
AGENDA
1.
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
2.
Approval of Minutes:
January
27, 2009 Coordinating Committee meeting
3.
Citizen Comments: For
items not on the agenda
4.
FY 2009-10 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP):
Final
Draft UPWP
Action: Adopt FY 2009-10 UPWP
5.
FY 2007-08 UPWP Supplemental Planning Funds Projects:
Time
Extension for Tasks VII.A and VII.B.
Action: Amend FY 2007-08 UPWP
6.
I-80/Route 26 Section A18 Local Access Interchange:
Marion
Township
request to
reconsider project
Action: Response to request
7.
Centre
County
Long
Range
Transportation Plan (LRTP):
Status
report about new LRTP
No action required
8.
FFY 2010 Federal Appropriations Legislation:
Earmark requests in
Centre
County
Action: Possible support for requests
9.
Federal Economic Stimulus Legislation:
Status report and possible actions for 2009-2012 Centre County TIP
Action: Possible amendments to TIP
10.
Announcements
11.
Adjourn
ITEM 4
FY
2009-10 UNIFIED PLANNING WORK PROGRAM (UPWP)
Final
Draft UPWP
Each
year in February, the MPO adopts a UPWP for the fiscal year which begins on July
1 of that year and ends on June 30 of the following year.
The UPWP lists the work tasks to be completed by the CRPA and the Centre
County Planning and Community Development Office (CCPCDO) on behalf of the
CCMPO. The MPO staff is currently
operating under the FY 2008-09 UPWP.
In
November 2008 and January 2009, staff reviewed potential projects for
supplemental planning funds, and a first draft of the FY 2009-10 UPWP.
At its January 27 meeting, the Coordinating Committee directed staff to
include one candidate supplemental planning funds project in the FY 2009-10
UPWP, as recommended by the Technical Committee:
Task VII.A.
Additional funds ($15,000) to purchase software for the Travel Demand
Model
and Socioeconomic Forecast Data project
In
February, MPO staff determined that the software must be purchased prior to the
effective date of the new UPWP in July 2009.
Thus, two options were proposed by staff, and are being considered by
PennDOT:
·
Add $15,000 in
supplemental planning funds to the current FY 2008-09 UPWP; or
·
Include
$15,000 in additional supplemental planning funds on the new FY 2009-10 UPWP for
additional tasks to be completed by MPO staff.
The software would be purchased with supplemental planning funds that are
already included in the FY 2008-09 UPWP for this project.
The
Technical Committee has recommended adoption of the FY 2009-10 UPWP, contingent
upon a feasible approach for providing the additional $15,000 in supplemental
planning funds.
Attached
is:
Final
Draft FY 2009-10 UPWP dated February 19, 2009 – This version
includes a supplemental planning funds project for additional tasks to be
completed by MPO staff, at a total cost of $15,000.
At
the meeting, staff will comment about key projects in the Final Draft UPWP, but
will not review the UPWP in detail. Staff
will also report on the PennDOT Central Office decision about which option to
use for the additional supplemental planning funds.
The
Coordinating Committee should review the Final Draft UPWP, and consider adopting
the
FY 2009-10 UPWP.
If PennDOT decides to add $15,000 in supplemental
planning funds to the current FY 2008-09 UPWP, then the FY 2009-10 UPWP can be
adopted without Task VII.A. A
second action would then be needed, as specified below.
Presented by:
Tom Zilla
, CRPA
Action
1:
Adopt the FY 2009-10 UPWP (with, or
without Task VII.A.).
(If needed)
Action
2:
Amend the FY 2008-09 UPWP to include $15,000 in additional supplemental
planning funds for Task VII.A. for software purchases needed to complete the
LRTP socioeconomic and travel demand model project.
ITEM 5
FY
2007-08 UPWP SUPPLEMENTAL PLANNING FUNDS PROJECTS
Time
Extension for
Task VII.A. - Coordination of Land
Use and Transportation Planning
Task VII.B. – Assessment of Public Transportation Services
The
CCMPO’s FY 2007-08 UPWP includes supplemental planning funds for two projects:
·
Task VII.A. – Coordination of
Comprehensive
Land
Use Planning and Transportation Planning
·
Task VII.B. – Assessment of
Public Transportation Services in
Centre
County
These
projects are underway, however, work on these items will extend beyond the June
30, 2009 termination date in the FY 2007-08 UPWP.
Thus, the termination date for both supplemental planning funds projects
should be extended to maintain access to funds that remain unexpended after June
30, 2009.
PennDOT
and the Centre Regional Planning Commission will execute a letter supplement to
the
FY 2007-08 Annual Agreement to extend the termination date from June 30, 2009 to
March 31, 2010, contingent upon the CCMPO’s extension of the termination date
in the FY 2007-08 UPWP.
The Technical Committee has recommended amending the FY
2007-08 UPWP to extend the termination date.
The
Coordinating Committee should consider amending the FY 2007-08 UPWP to extend
the termination date for Tasks VII.A. and VII.B. (supplemental planning funds
projects).
Presented by:
Tom Zilla
, CRPA
Action:
Amend the CCMPO’s FY 2007-08 UPWP to extend the termination date for
Tasks VII.A. and VII.B. from June 30, 2009 to March 31, 2010.
ITEM 6
I-80/ROUTE
26 SECTION A18 LOCAL ACCESS INTERCHANGE
Marion
Township
Request
to Reconsider Project
The
I-80/Route 26 Local Access Interchange is one of two new interchanges proposed
to connect I-99 to I-80 in Spring and
Marion
Townships
. The Local Access Interchange is
needed in order for a High Speed Interchange to be constructed on the site of
the current Exit 161 (Bellefonte) Interchange.
The High Speed Interchange will be a “closed” interchange that
provides for traffic movements directly between I-99 and I-80, but does not
provide access to the local road system. Access
to local roads will only be provided by the Local Access Interchange, located
approximately 3 miles north of the current Exit 161 on Route 26 (
Jacksonville Road
).
The
two interchanges have advanced through the design phase.
The Local Access Interchange must be constructed first, and was
previously scheduled for a bid letting in 2009.
However, because sufficient funding was not committed for construction,
both interchanges were removed from the Centre County Long Range Transportation
Plan (LRTP) and 2009-2012 Centre County Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
in July 2008.
At
the September 23, 2008 CCMPO Coordinating Committee meeting, representatives
from Marion Township expressed concern about the location and potential impacts
of the Local Access Interchange. PennDOT
District 2-0 and MPO staff subsequently attended the October 14, 2008 Marion
Township Board of Supervisors meeting to provide a report and receive comments
from the Township. PennDOT and MPO
staff also attended the January 15, 2009 Nittany Valley Joint Planning
Commission meeting to discuss the concern.
In
December 2008, the CCMPO received correspondence from
Marion
Township
requesting that the Local Access Interchange be reconsidered.
The Township’s correspondence states that the current roadway condition
of Route 26 does not favor the proposed location of the Local Access
Interchange, and states that local access should be provided at the site of the
existing Exit 161 interchange. The
Coordinating Committee received the correspondence it its January 27, 2009
meeting agenda package, and agreed to discuss the request at this meeting.
In
January, PennDOT reported to the CCMPO that funds are being committed on the
2009-2012 TIP for the Preliminary Engineering phase of a project to improve
Route 26 between Exit 161 and the location of the Local Access Interchange.
However, funding for the remaining phases of this improvement project
would need to be committed by the CCMPO on future TIPs.
PennDOT
District 2-0 and MPO staff will provide a status report about the project and
Marion
Township
’s request.
Attached
are:
PowerPoint slides showing
location of the I-99/I-80 Section B18 High Speed Interchange and the
I-80/Route 26 Section A18 Local Access Interchange
Request
from Marion Township Supervisors dated December 18, 2008
Additional
information about truck traffic provided by
Marion
Township
officials
Concerns
expressed by the
Bellefonte
Area
School District
At its February 11,
2009 meeting, the Technical Committee approved the following recommendation to
the Coordinating Committee:
Make
the improvements to Route 26 (Jacksonville Road) between Exit 161 and the Local
Access Interchange a top priority on the Centre County TIP, and give high
priority to making improvements to Jacksonville Road between the Local Access
Interchange and Howard Borough by including the project on the Centre County
LRTP and future TIPs.
Representatives from
Marion
Township
are expected to attend the meeting to provide comments.
The
Coordinating Committee should receive the staff report, the Technical
Committee’s recommendation, and comments from
Marion
Township
; and consider providing a response to
Marion
Township
.
Presented by: Karen Michael, PennDOT District 2-0; Tom Zilla,
CRPA
Action:
Provide a response to
Marion
Township
relative to a request to reconsider the I-80/Route 26 Local Access Interchange.
ITEM 7
CENTRE
COUNTY
LONG
RANGE
TRANSPORTATION PLAN (LRTP)
Status
Report
The
CCMPO adopted the Centre
County LRTP 2030 in September 2006. The
Plan was updated in June 2007 and July 2008 to address the requirements of
SAFETEA-LU and federal transportation planning regulations.
Federal regulations
also require that a major update or new LRTP be prepared and adopted every four
years. Thus, the CCMPO initiated the
preparation of a new LRTP in fall 2008, with adoption tentatively scheduled for
June 2010.
Several policy issues
affecting the preparation of the new LRTP were discussed by the CCMPO
Coordinating Committee at its September 23 and October 28, 2008 meetings.
In October and November 2008, staff presented a tentative process and
schedule for completion of the new LRTP to the CCMPO Committees.
At its November 25 meeting, the Coordinating Committee also approved the
formation of a new project ranking committee.
At this meeting, the
Committee should receive staff reports about the following topics:
- Process
for preparing a candidate project list
- Project
Ranking Committee (PRC) activities
- Travel
demand model and socioeconomic forecast database
Attached are:
Draft
for Discussion – Process for Preparing a Candidate Project List
Staff
PowerPoint Presentation about Process for Preparing a Candidate List
Staff
PowerPoint presentation about PRC activities
Staff
PowerPoint presentation about travel demand model and socioeconomic forecasts
The
Coordinating Committee should receive the staff reports, discuss the topics, and
provide comments to staff.
Presented by: Trish Meek, CRPA ; Mike Bloom, CCPCDO
No action required
ITEM 8
FFY
2010 FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS LEGISLATION
Earmark
Requests in
Centre
County
In
February 2008, the CCMPO Committees discussed federal funding earmarks,
including whether there should be a process for the CCMPO to coordinate earmark
requests, and whether the CCMPO should request earmarks on a regular basis.
No consensus was reached by the Coordinating Committee about how to
address earmarks.
The
earmarking of federal funds for transportation projects typically occurs through
one of two legislative actions:
 | Passage
of a periodic federal surface transportation authorization
bill. The current federal
transportation authorization legislation is the Safe, Affordable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which
became law in 2005, and expires at the conclusion of federal fiscal year
2009. In recent years,
authorization legislation has typically covered a five or six year period.
|
| Passage
of the annual federal transportation appropriations
bill. |
Earmarks
have been received for projects in
Centre
County
through both authorization and appropriations bills.
The
U.S. Congress has initiated preparation of FFY 2010 appropriations
legislation, and members have solicited input about earmarks that may be
requested in the bill. Members of
the Senate have also solicited information about potential earmarks that may be
included in the next authorization bill that will follow SAFETEA-LU.
Centre
County
government requested an earmark in the FFY 2010 appropriations
bill for the safety improvements on Route 322 between Boalsburg and
Seven
Mountains
. Letters of support for the
County’s request were provided by the CCMPO to
U.S.
Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, and U.S. Representative Glenn Thompson.
CATA
and
Penn
State
University
are also expected to request earmarks for projects.
The deadline for submission of requests to Senators Specter and Casey is
February 20, 2009. Requests to
Representative Thompson must be submitted by March 6, 2009.
Attached
are:
Correspondence
from
U.S.
Senators Specter and Casey
Correspondence
from CCMPO supporting an earmark request for the Route 322 Corridor
The
Coordinating Committee should discuss the solicitation of earmarks for the FFY
2010 appropriations bill and the next authorization bill, and consider whether
to express support for earmark requests.
Presented by: Tom Zilla, CRPA
Action:
Possible support for earmark requests for projects in
Centre
County
.
ITEM 9
FEDERAL
ECONOMIC STIMULUS LEGISLATION
Status
Report and Possible Actions for
2009-2012 Centre
County
Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP)
In
January and February 2009, the U.S. Congress and the administration of President
Obama developed and approved economic stimulus legislation.
The “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009” was signed into law on February 17, 2009.
The
premise of the transportation portion of the stimulus package is that projects
must be ready to be constructed or implemented within a short period of time
(e.g. 50% of the funds must be obligated within 120 days).
Funding is being provided to states according to the formulas established
in the current SAFETEA-LU transportation authorization legislation.
The states are responsible for distributing the funding to specific
projects.
In
January 2009, PennDOT released a preliminary list of candidate projects proposed
for funding in
Pennsylvania
, which was based on several factors, including but not limited to:
| Projects
are focused on system preservation (e.g. bridge, pavement, and safety
improvements).
|
| A
six-month (180 days) timeframe is used for obligating funds.
|
| The
2009 TIP Financial Guidance is used to generally guide the distribution of
funds to MPO and RPO areas.
|
| The
list assumes the federal share to be 100%. |
Based
on the funding levels in the approved legislation, the PennDOT Central Office
has indicated that
Centre
County
’s share of stimulus funding for highways and bridges can be distributed to
four projects already included on the 2009-2012 Centre County TIP.
These projects were identified as candidates at the January 27
Coordinating Committee meeting.
|
Highway and Bridge Stimulus
Projects
|
|
State Route-Section
|
Project
|
Location
|
Funding Amount
|
| SR
1001-A01
|
Marsh
Creek
Bridge
Replacement
|
Curtin
Twp.
|
$1,325,000
|
| SR
2014-A01
|
Tributary
to
Penns
Creek
Bridge
Replacement
|
Gregg
Twp.
|
$1,300,000
|
| SR
322-BP8
|
Bridge
Preservation
Painting of Bridges
|
Mt.
Nittany
Expressway
|
$1,400,000
|
| SR
26-139
|
Pleasant
Gap Betterment
|
Spring
Twp.
|
$3,900,000
|
|
Total
|
$7,925,000
|
Because
these projects are already on the TIP, the new funds have been added by
administrative action, with does not require formal approval by the CCMPO.
Funding previously committed to these projects will be shifted to line
items. PennDOT
District 2-0 and MPO staff will be working to identify how the line item funds
can be reallocated to other projects, and will present that information at a
future meeting.
At
the time of agenda preparation, specific information about stimulus funding for
public transportation projects in the Commonwealth was not available.
However, more information is anticipated to be provided prior to the
Coordinating Committee meeting.
Four
candidate public transportation projects were previously discussed in January:
|
Sponsor
|
Project
|
| CATA
|
Expansion
of Operations and Maintenance Facility
|
| CATA
|
Phase
II Advanced Public Transportation Systems Initiative
|
| CATA
|
Replacement
of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Fuel Tanks
|
| CATA
|
Replacement
of Orion CNG Buses
|
MPO
and PennDOT staff will provide additional information to the Coordinating
Committee at the meeting. Although
staff does not anticipate formal action being needed at this time, amendments to
the highway or transit elements of the Centre County TIP may be required based
on updated information.
The Coordinating Committee should
receive the staff report. If
necessary, the Coordinating Committee may take action to amend the 2009-2012
Centre
County
TIP
to include economic stimulus funding.
Presented by: Tom Zilla, CRPA
Action:
Possible action to amend the 2009-2012 Centre County TIP to include
additional funding provided by federal economic stimulus legislation.
ITEM
10
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.
Future Meeting
Dates
Please note that the
meeting schedule for 2009 that was approved by the Coordinating Committee in
November 2008 included a Technical Committee meeting on Wednesday, November 11,
2009. Because November 11 is the
Veteran’s Day holiday, the Technical Committee rescheduled the meeting to
November 18, 2009.
a.
Technical Committee:
April 8, 2009, 9:30 am;
Location to be determined
ð
Centre
County
LRTP
ð
2009-2012
Centre
County
TIP
ð
2011-2014
Centre
County
TIP
ð
Assessment
of Pubic Transportation Services
b.
Coordinating Committee:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 6:00 pm; Location to be determined
ð
Centre
County
LRTP
ð
2009-2012
Centre
County
TIP
ð
2011-2014
Centre
County
TIP
ð
Assessment
of Pubic Transportation Services
2.
In October 2008, PennDOT initiated a new program intended to advance
“Smart Transportation” principles in the Commonwealth.
The “Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative (PCTI)” is
being funded with a total of $60 million in federal and state funds from the
Secretary of Transportation’s spike funding allocation in the first two years
of the 2009-2012 TIP (FFY 2009 and 2010). Eligible
projects may receive up to $5 million for construction activities, or up to
$300,000 for planning activities.
PennDOT
reported in January 2009 that over 380 applications were received statewide.
Twelve projects in
Centre
County
were submitted by prospective sponsors, including two applications that were
submitted by the CCMPO.
Following
an initial screening by the PennDOT Central Office to determine eligibility,
applications will be provided to PennDOT Engineering District Offices, MPOs, and
RPOs for review in February. Comments
from PennDOT Districts, MPOs and RPOs will then be returned to the Central
Office review committee charged with approving the applications.
No date has been provided by the Central Office for approval of the
applications.
3. On February 10, 2009,
the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) held a public information meeting
to receive input from the community about the scope of work for an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) being completed for the proposed reopening of the R.J.
Corman Railroad Company Beech Creek Branch rail line in
Clearfield
and
Centre
Counties
. If reactivated, the rail line
would serve a proposed landfill and industrial area in
Rush
Township
. Attached is the information
distributed by the STB at the meeting.
4.
SEDA-COG, PennDOT, and
Union
County
are sponsoring a free training session about Transportation Impact Fees on
March 31, 2009, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, at the
Union
County
Government
Center
in Lewisburg. Persons interested in
attending the training should RSVP to Kay Aikey at SEDA-COG, using the
information at the bottom of the attached flyer.
Staff
also expresses its appreciation to the SEDA-COG RPO staff for organizing and
providing LTAP training services to municipalities in the SEDA-COG region,
including
Centre
County
. Staff encourages municipal
officials to take advantage of the LTAP sessions organized by SEDA-COG.
5.
CCMPO staff contact information:
Centre Regional Planning Agency
Telephone:
814-231-3050
2643 Gateway Drive
Fax:
814-231-3083
State College
,
PA
16801
Tom Zilla, Transportation Planner
tzilla@crcog.net
Trish Meek, Transportation Planner
tmeek@crcog.net
Greg Kausch, Transportation Planner
gkausch@crcog.net
Lori Shingler, Office Manager
lshingler@crcog.net
Centre
County
Plng & Community Dev. Office
Telephone:
814-355-6791
420 Holmes Street
–
Willowbank
Office
Building
Fax:
814-355-8661
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Bob Jacobs
, Director
rbjacobs@co.centre.pa.us
Sue
Hannegan
, Assistant Director
shannegan@co.centre.pa.us
Mike Bloom
, Transportation Planner
dmbloom@co.centre.pa.us
On the web at www.ccmpo.net .
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