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1st Quarter FY2014 Newsletter July - September 2013 MPO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP Inside This Issue: The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) is a new Federal program under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) transportation bill. TAP combines several former funding programs such as Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Under TAP, the MPO receives a dedicated amount of federal funding for the program and projects are chosen through a selection process. TAP requires that a certain minimum amount of the funding go to projects in both rural and urban areas and requires a local match of 14.56%. The following projects were approved for FFY2014-2015 TAP funding by the Policy Committee on August 7. The full amount of federal TAP funding for the MPO was allocated to these five projects. TAP Funding 1 MPO Committee Membership 1 Complete Streets 3 Safe Routes to School Program 2 Community & Regional Concerns 2 PROJECTS SELECTED FOR TAP FUNDING In August, the MPO Technical Committee welcomed a new member, Teresa Brevik, who will represent the City of Bloomfield on the committee. Teresa is the new Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Bloomfield. Thank you to Brad Ellsworth who will stay on this Committee as the Alternate for the City of Bloomfield. 2014 TAP Federal Funds 2015 TAP Federal Funds Total Local Match Southside River Road River Trail (Farmington-Rural category) $23,093 $23,093 $7,939 Vereda del Rio San Juan River Trail Phase 2 (Bloomfield-Urban category) $158,580 $27,024 20th Street Sidewalks Phase 1 from Clayton to Fairview (Farmington-Urban category) $159,741 $28,959 $32,157 Vereda del Rio San Juan River Trail Phase 3 (Bloomfield-Urban category $158,580 $27,024 20th Street Sidewalks Phase 2 from Fairview to Sullivan (Farmington-Urban category) $130,782 $22,287 ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 2 COMMUNITY & REGIONAL CONCERNS Student arrival counts for the Safe Routes to School program were taken at Ladera and Mesa Verde Elementary Schools on September 3-5. Apache and McKinley Elementary school students were counted on September 10-12. MPO staff and other volunteers counted how students arrived at school, whether by bus or personal vehicle, or if they walked or biked. Ladera had the largest percentage of walkers at 30% of total enrollment. McKinley was lower this year, but the walking percentage was still at 17%. Mesa Verde was at 13% and Apache, which has the largest number of bus students, had a walking percentage of The national average for walking/biking to school is at 10-15%. International Walk/Bike to School Day is scheduled for October 9. Prizes will be given to each student who walks or rides his bike to school that day. Mascots from the area’s high schools, the City of Farmington’s Mayor Tommy Robers and Police Department will cheer on and walk along with students. The mascots were a huge hit last year with all the children, parents, and teachers. SRTS Coordinator Anngela Wakan is also organizing walking school buses at Mesa Verde and McKinley this year. A community Bike Rodeo was held on September 27 at the Sycamore Community Center. Thanks to all the volunteers who made the event such a success! SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM During the August 22 Farmington MPO Technical Committee meeting, the members discussed the need for a collective voice for the area with political backing that would address and develop solutions to various concerns relating to regional priorities, maintenance, and communication with NMDOT District 5. The concerns included such items as: Support for regional priority projects versus the extensive federal funding for the US 64 widening project Routine maintenance on state highways The lack of maintenance and the impacts on aesthetics for the region The budgetary and workforce burden on the entities and jurisdictional issues that create liability and cost concerns when the entities perform maintenance work on state facilities Other operational and communication issues The MPO Policy Committee was then given a presentation of these issues on September 19 to ensure that these elected officials were aware of and supported the concerns of the Technical Committee. The Policy Committee did agree with the concerns and recommended scheduling a workshop with all involved parties. At the September 26 Technical Committee meeting, the members decided they would each speak with their respective city’s executive staff to determine their understanding and support of the issues. The Technical Committee members are to report back on these discussions during their October meeting. Pending the outcome of these discussions, a workshop will be scheduled to further discuss the issues and begin working together to develop solutions. ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 3 COMPLETE STREETS The Complete Streets Advisory Group met on July 9 and finalized the development of Complete Streets values, goals, and vision statement. The values, goals, and vision statement were presented to both the MPO Technical and Policy Committees on August 7 and were approved. The Complete Streets vision statement is as follows: “The Farmington MPO region will plan, design, and construct connected, multi-modal, and context appropriate transportation networks. These networks will address the needs of all users and integrate the community values of health, safety, and economic vitality in an aesthetically pleasing way.” On September 16, the Complete Street Advisory Group met to begin developing titles for the land use context areas and road types. Context areas and road types are used to better describe the built environment and provide a better indication of how the road is used by various modes. Along with the values, goals, and vision, these overlays will eventually be used for creating Complete Streets guidelines for the region. Land Use Context Areas Breaking into small groups, members used names they first brainstormed in July and came up with a variety of land use context area titles. Following the meeting, MPO Staff began to consolidate these titles and generated seven draft title recommendations that could define the land use context areas in this region: Rural & Agricultural, Regional Commercial, City Commercial, Suburban Neighborhood, Traditional Neighborhood, Town Center, and Central Business District/Downtown. The Advisory Group will review and refine these draft titles as well as the corresponding definitions at their October meeting. Road Types At their October meeting, the Advisory Group will also begin to develop the road type titles for the MPO region. The Advisory Group has been considering road types being used by DOT (PennDOT) and the City of Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke uses a simplified version of the traditional road classification system while PennDOT uses five different categories that go beyond the traditional classifications. The defined road types are used as a planning and design overlay for their road corridors and do not actually replace the traditional functional classification system. Once the Advisory Group has finalized their land use context areas and road types for the MPO region, their recommendations will go to the MPO Technical and Policy Committees for review and approval. Once this process is completed, the Advisory Group will begin to develop the Complete Streets guidelines that will provide the local entity planners with options when planning, designing, and constructing roads. ---PAGE BREAK--- We are planning for tomorrow today! MAILING INFORMATION 800 Municipal Drive Farmington, NM 87401 E-mail: [EMAIL REDACTED] Web Page: www.FarmingtonMPO.org CONTACT INFORMATION Phone: (505) 599-1466 Fax: (505) 599-1299 Office: 100 W. Broadway 2nd Floor Farmington, NM 87401 FARMINGTON STAFF Mary L. Holton, AICP: MPO Officer Joe Delmagori, AICP: MPO Planner Duane Wakan: MPO Assoc. Planner June Markle: MPO Admin. Aide To add your name to our mailing list, just send us an e-mail, write us a letter, or stop by our office. We’ll need to know your name, address (either electronic or U.S. mail), and whether you want meeting notifications, the newsletter, or both. Here’s how to reach us: 1st Quarter FY2014 - July-September 2013 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, NM 87401 Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. Omar Khayyam