June 24Th, 2020 Mr. Larry Shifflet Deputy Secretary for Planning
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Timothy J. May August Neff Chairman Vice-Chairman E R I E A R E A T R A N S P O R T A T I O N S T U D Y ● M E T R O P O L I T A N P L A N N I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N June 24th, 2020 Mr. Larry Shifflet Deputy Secretary for Planning Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Office of Planning P.O. Box 3643 Harrisburg, PA 17105-3643 Re: Adoption of the Erie MPO 2021 Transportation Improvement Program Dear Mr. Shifflet: The Erie Area Transportation Study (EATS) Coordinating Committee, the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for Erie County (Erie MPO) respectfully submits this correspondence to indicate the local adoption of the FFY 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). In accordance with procedural guidance, a 30 day public review and comment period was held from May 22nd, 2020 through June 23rd, 2020. Documents were placed on the MPO’s website with notice given in the newspaper, on social media, on virtual message boards and through targeted mailings and emails. These measures are consistent with the Erie MPO’s Public Participation Plan. A public hearing was held on June 3rd, 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hearing was held virtually. Also due to Covid-19, in person PennDOT Connects meeting were canceled. Certified letters were sent to all municipalities to begin the Connects process. All projects on the FFY 2021-2024 TIP for Erie County were then presented to the Erie MPO for formal adoption by the Coordinating Committee held on June 24th, 2020. The meeting was held virtually. A motion was called to adopt each the document as presented; each motion was seconded. All TIP documents were approved unanimously by the voting members. Enclosed please find the locally adopted Highway, Bridge, Interstate and Public Transit portions of the Erie MPO 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for your review and approval. We respectfully request the subsequent insertion into the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and submittal of the respective portions to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for agency approval. Also included with this transmittal are the supporting documents, as required by the Program Guidance. The supporting documents were each reviewed and subsequently approved by the Coordinating Committee members at the June 24th, 2020 MPO virtual meeting. The Self- Certification Resolution and Administrative TIP Procedures were then locally executed. On behalf of the Erie MPO membership and all residents of Erie County, we thank you for the Department's continued support of ongoing transportation planning efforts in Erie County. Please do not hesitate to contact Emily Aloiz, Erie MPO Secretary, with any questions regarding this information. Sincerely, Timothy J. May, Chairman cc: Mr. Daniel Keane, PennDOT Program Center Mr. James Foringer, P.E., District Executive Ms. Honey Stempka, Director, Erie County Department of Planning and Community Development Mr. Jeremy Peterson, Executive Director, EMTA Erie Area Transportation Study Erie Metropolitan Planning Organization 2021-2024 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM DRAFT Erie Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization Erie MPO Chairman Mr. Timothy J. May, Harborcreek Township Vice-Chairman Mr. August Neff, Erie County Association of Township Officials Secretary Ms. Emily Aloiz, County of Erie Coordinating Committee Voting Members Mayor David Mitchell, City of Corry Mayor Joseph Schember, City of Erie Ms. LeAnn Parmenter, City of Erie Mr. Jon Tushak, City of Erie Mr. Christopher Groner, City of Erie Ms. Renee Lamis, City of Erie Ms. Katherine Wyrosdick, City of Erie County Executive, Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie County Mr. William Kuhn, Erie County Association of Boroughs Mr. Jeffery Eaton, Erie County Association of Township Officials West County Mr. Christopher Gerhart, Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority Mr. Derek Martin, Erie Regional Airport Authority Ms. Brenda Sandberg, Erie-Western PA Port Authority Mr. Peter Kraus, Fairview Township Ms. Janet Cabaday, Lawrence Park Township Mr. John Morgan, Millcreek Township Mr. Matthew Waldinger, Millcreek Township Mr. James Foringer, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Mr. Kevin McCullough, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Mr. Mark Welka, Summit Township Mr. Frederick Petrini, Wesleyville Borough Non-Voting Members Mr. Eugene Porochniak, Federal Highway Administration Mr. Timothy Lidiak, Federal Transit Administration Mr. Oscar Sanchez, Federal Aviation Administration Mr. Michael Fraley, Housing and Urban Development Ms. Kimberly Thomas, PA Department of Community and Economic Development Ms. Staci Gustafson, PA Department of Environmental Protection ERIE MPO 2021-2024 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM CONTENTS TIP DEVELOPMENT/PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS DOCUMENTATION TIP DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE PERFORMANCE MEASURES NARRATIVE DOCUMENTATION HIGHWAY & BRIDGE PROGRAM TIP PUBLIC TRANSIT PROGRAM TIP INTERSTATE PROGRAM TIP STATEWIDE PROGRAM TIP FINANCIAL CONSTRAINT CHART TRANSIT FINANCIAL CAPACITY ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CORE ELEMENTS DOCUMENTATION AIR QUALITY CONFORMITY DETERMINATION REPORT AIR QUALITY RESOLUTION PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ADVERTISEMENT DOCUMENTED PUBLIC COMMENTS RECEIVED TITLE VI POLICY STATEMENT TIP REVISION PROCEDURES SELF-CERTIFICATION RESOLUTION LIST OF IMPLEMENTED MAJOR REGIONAL PROJECTS LIST OF DELAYED MAJOR REGIONAL PROJECTS CHECKLIST ERIE MPO 2021-2024 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TIP DEVELOPMENT/PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS DOCUMENTATION 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Project Selection Process Erie Area Transportation Study (Erie MPO) Introduction Federal law and regulations require that in all urbanized areas with a population of over 50,000 persons, local and state officials work cooperatively to maintain a continuous and comprehensive long-range transportation planning program. Since 1964, the Erie MPO is the responsible body for fulfilling these federal requirements within Erie County Metropolitan area. Every two years, the MPO produces a local Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which contains the programmed transportation projects throughout Erie County. This short-range document is developed in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA), taking into account the Long Range Transportation Plan’s (LRTP’s) priorities and projects. The TIP details the planned expenditure of federal funds and state capital funds for specific programs and projects, within specified limits of fiscal constraint. The TIP years are based on the federal fiscal year, which extends from October 1 to September 30. The list of projects on the TIP coincides with the First Four Year segment of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Twelve Year Program (TYP), which is developed by PennDOT and adopted by the State Transportation Commission (STC) every two years, at the same time as the TIP. Process Overview Development of the 2021 TIP project list began over a year before its adoption. The Erie MPO and PennDOT worked collaboratively to develop a list of projects that were discussed by the MPO, screened against federal/state funding program eligibility requirements, and publically presented. Considerations of the projects included the availability of total funding (what we the needs are vs. the amount of funding expected to be available in the new TIP cycle), the availability of different types of funding (which is also provided to us from the Program Center), and overall goals of our program. The most important consideration was to make sure all carryover projects for the 2019 TIP were funded to completion (e.g. projects partially funded but not yet fully complete during the current/2019 TIP cycle). These carryover projects constituted a very large portion of our total dollars available. While priorities largely remained the same from 2019, changing condition of roadways and bridges, available funding, federal performance measures and other factors were taken into account for the addition of new projects to the 2021 TIP. The sections below attempt to inventory and categorize most of this information and how it was utilized in the Erie MPO project selection process. Consideration of Departmental (PennDOT) Priorities PennDOT Center for Program Development and Management based in Harrisburg and PennDOT District 1-0’s Planning and Programming unit based in Oil City, created a “rough draft” of the 2021 TIP Highway/Bridge projects and Interstate projects. These included carryover projects from the 2019 TIP and took into account the types of funding that could be used for each project type. District 1-0 presented the Highway/Bridge project list to the MPO staff in the fall of 2019. Before meeting with the MPO, PennDOT District 1-0 and PennDOT’s Planning and Programming staff had already worked with several other PennDOT departments. Many of these groups are summarized in the following table. PennDOT How Projects are Prioritized Department Safety Unit Priority given to factors prioritized in Performance Management safety targets, such as numbers of fatalities and serious injuries (see Performance Management section). Projects from previous road safety audits are also considered. Set-aside safety funds require a benefit-cost analysis. Maintenance Unit PennDOT’s Erie County maintenance unit determines their highest priorities, and which projects would be better-utilized with TIP dollars (as opposed to maintenance funds) due