Annual Public Involvement Report GDOT STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FY 2018 - 2021 This page intentionally left blank Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Public Meeting Summary: FY 2018-2021 .............................................................................................. 4 2.1. Meeting Materials ......................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Meeting Notification ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.3. Summary of Meeting Attendance ................................................................................................. 8 3. Opportunities for Future STIP Cycles .................................................................................................. 10 Tables Table 1: FY 2015‐2018 STIP Public Meeting Schedule .................................................................................. 4 Table 2: Meeting Attendance (excluding staff)............................................................................................. 9 Figures Figure 1: GDOT Districts ................................................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2: Planned FY 2018-2021 STIP Public Meeting Locations .................................................................. 5 Figure 3:Example of a STIP Public Meeting Map .......................................................................................... 6 Appendices Appendix A: Meeting Materials Appendix B: Meeting Notifications Appendix C: Media Coverage Appendix D: Translated Documents Appendix E: Meeting Outcomes i 1. Introduction The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, also known as the STIP, is developed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and is Georgia’s four‐year transportation and capital improvements program. The STIP is a listing of federally‐funded transportation that are located outside Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) boundaries and are anticipated to be funded during fiscal years 2018 through 2021. Projects include highway, bridge, public transit, bike, pedestrian, railroad, maintenance, and other improvements. The STIP is developed in coordination with the citizens of Georgia, interested stakeholders, and in direct cooperation with local governments. Projects listed in the STIP are identified through GDOT’s ongoing planning processes in keeping with the Governor’s strategic goals for Georgia to provide a lean and responsive state government that allows communities, individuals, and businesses to prosper. These projects are vital to supporting GDOT’s mission in providing a safe, seamless, and sustainable transportation system that supports Georgia’s economy and is sensitive to its citizens and the environment. During STIP development, interested citizens and stakeholders are given the opportunity to review and comment on the state’s transportation priorities for the next four years, as set forth in the STIP. They are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions on the four year STIP and on transportation needs for Georgia. The purpose of this Annual Public Involvement Report is to detail the STIP public involvement process undertaken for the FY 2018‐2021 STIP. This report includes documentation of meetings, the comments received from the public, and notification methods undertaken through this process. The Draft STIP is posted on the project website (http://www.dot.ga.gov/IS/STIP) in English and Spanish for public review and comment. The page invites the public to send their questions and comments regarding the STIP to the GDOT Planning Office at [email protected]. Public meetings are another major component of the public outreach effort for the STIP. During a typical STIP cycle, meetings are held throughout the state, in each of GDOT’s six rural districts, which includes all areas that are not part of a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). A district map is shown in Figure 1. In MPO areas, transportation projects are included in the MPO’s TIP, which is included in the STIP by reference. 1 ATTENDEES CONFER AT STIP PUBLIC MEETINGS The purpose of each of the public meetings is to present GDOT’s proposed four‐year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and provide an opportunity for the public to review, provide input, and comment on the state’s transportation priorities. Meeting locations are selected in coordination with staff from each GDOT District. There are several key elements considered in this selection process: Meeting location accessibility throughout each District and to Environmental Justice (EJ) communities Facility compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for ease of access Public transportation availability Level of success of meeting location, if used in previous years At public meetings, participants could review at least two large scale maps of the region that depicted capital, safety, maintenance and other improvements included in the proposed STIP. The maps were also available as PDFs on two laptops so that they could be enlarged as needed. Copies of the proposed STIP document were available for review both in hard copy and as a searchable PDF. Citizens were asked to provide comments and suggestions using a comment form that could be submitted to a present staff member or mailed to the district office. GDOT staff was on hand to answer questions from attendees. GDOT staff provided formal responses to comments and suggestions that were given on the comment forms. It should be noted that for the FY 2018-2021 STIP, two public meetings were planned for each of the six rural districts. However, Hurricane Irma reached Georgia on September 11, 2017. Due to travel issues and storm damage, meetings on September 11 and September 12 were cancelled. The affected meetings would have been held in Helen and Maysville in District 1 and Dublin and Thomson in District 2. 2 FIGURE 1: GDOT DISTRICTS 3 2. Public Meeting Summary: FY 2018-2021 GDOT planned to hold a total of 12 public meetings to obtain input on the proposed FY 2018-2021 STIP. These meetings were to be held in each of GDOT’s six rural districts, with two meetings per district. Due to Hurricane Irma a state of emergency was issued prompting the cancellation of four meetings on September 11 and 12 in Districts 1 and 2. A summary of planned meeting dates and locations is shown in Table 1, and Figure 2 displays the planned meeting locations on a map. TABLE 1: FY 2015‐2018 STIP PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULE District Date Time Location City 1* September 11, 2017 5—7 pm Helen City Hall Council Chambers Helen 1* September 12, 2017 5—7 pm Pat Bell Conference Center Maysville 2* September 11, 2017 5—7 pm Dublin Mall Dublin 2* September 12, 2017 5—7 pm McDuffie County Administration Building Thomson 3 September 5, 2017 5—7 pm South GA Technical College Americus 3 September 7, 2017 5—7 pm Mike Daniel Recreation Center LaGrange 4 August 28, 2017 5—7 pm Albany Mall Albany 4 August 29, 2017 5—7 pm Tifton Mall Tifton 5 August 28, 2017 5—7 pm Mall at Waycross Waycross 5 August 29, 2017 5—7 pm Statesboro Regional Library Statesboro 6 August 31, 2017 5—7 pm Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Carrollton 6 September 13, 2017 5—7 pm Pickens County Library Jasper *= meeting cancelled due to impacts from Hurricane Irma All meetings were an open house format and held at community venues, such as shopping malls, public libraries, and other community facilities that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Attendees examined maps depicting proposed STIP projects, and reviewed copies of the draft STIP to provide more in‐depth information about the four-year STIP. GDOT staff assisted attendees and answered questions from the public. Staff at public meetings included: Planning Division staff District Planning and Programming Engineers District Communications Officers Additional District staff, such as District Engineers and District Preconstruction Engineers Consultant Staff 4 FIGURE 2: PLANNED FY 2018-2021 STIP PUBLIC MEETING LOCATIONS 5 2.1. Meeting Materials At each meeting, several materials were available for public comment and for general STIP information. These materials included the following: Large maps of the STIP projects in the region (two maps per meeting) PDFs of the STIP project maps (available on two laptops) Comment forms (distributed in large print) STIP informational handouts Entire draft STIP document in printed hardcopy Entire draft STIP document as a searchable, enlargeable PDF on two laptops Instructions for locating additional project information on GDOT’s website Even though some districts have larger Spanish speaking populations than others, Spanish materials were provided at all the meetings. Figure 3 shows an example of the type of district map on display at each meeting. Samples of all meeting materials can be found in Appendix A. FIGURE 3:EXAMPLE OF A STIP PUBLIC MEETING MAP 6 2.2. Meeting Notification Several methods were utilized to notify the public of upcoming STIP public meetings: A direct mail postcard distributed to GDOT’s “Family of Partners” database Flyers for the districts to hand‐out at other events Press releases sent via email from the districts Postings on GDOT’s website Radio