2020-45 Long Range Transportation Plan
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2020-45 LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN ADOPTED JUNE 23, 2020 This page intentionally left blank 2 Northwest Pennsylvania Commission 2020-45 Long Range Transportation Plan Prepared for: Northwest Commission 395 Seneca Street P.O. Box 1127 Oil City, PA 16301 (814) 677-4800 http://northwestpa.org/transportation/ By: Michael Baker International 4431 N. Front Street Harrisburg, PA 17110 (717) 213-2900 June 23, 2020 Our Regional Geographic Position The Northwest PA region includes a 5-county area located in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania. It is one of the state’s smallest transportation planning regions by population, yet consists of nearly 3,600 square miles of land area (or an area roughly half the size of New Jersey). The region’s location just off the shores of Lake Erie also makes it an area with one of the harshest environments in the state. The region is situated within the winter snowbelt, and annually receives upwards of 100 inches of snowfall, along with 40-48 inches of rain. PennDOT typically spends anywhere from 100 to 150 days a year de-icing the region’s roadways. Geologically, the region is located within the broader Appalachian Plateau region, with deposits of glacial till that can run more than 200 feet deep. This environmental phenomenon can substantially drive up the costs of bridge maintenance and construction, just as much as the region’s freeze and thaw cycles can adversely affect roadway conditions. The region in general is very rural, with a population density of only 64 persons per square mile. In addition, significant portions of the region are quite remote and inaccessible, with limited access to the national Interstate system. The largest municipalities in the region include the micropolitan statistical areas of Meadville, Oil City, and Warren. The Allegheny National Forest is a major geographic feature within the region and stretches across large portions of Forest and Warren Counties. The preparation of this publication was financed in part through the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. 4 2020-45 Long Range Transportation Plan MESSAGE FROM THE TAC CHAIRMAN Dear Reader – The Northwest Commission’s 2020-2045 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) represents the culmination of much work by the Commission and its many transportation stakeholders. These include PennDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, county planning agencies, and hundreds of private individuals who use and depend on the regional transportation system for their livelihood every day. As a region, Northwestern Pennsylvania faces many transportation challenges that this plan seeks to address. As always, our biggest challenge is in coming up with enough funding to be able to do larger projects that are needed. In many instances, we cannot fund needed projects without collaborative efforts among the five Northwestern counties, or from our partners in Harrisburg and Washington DC. Our Interstates are in fair condition, but will not last for another 25 years. Major reconstruction projects will be needed to keep our most strategic highway assets operating in an acceptable condition. The region also has a high concentration of secondary roadways that are not eligible for state funds. We continue to work on addressing the number of “poor” bridges across the region. Through various initiatives at the state and regional level, we have driven those numbers down to their lowest level in many years. System preservation continues to be an ongoing need and is one of the Commission’s top priorities: we need to hold our roadways and bridges together with more preservation-type work. Our other transportation assets and services related to public transportation, rail freight, aviation, and bicycle/pedestrian facilities also deserve our attention in planning for a multimodal system. This is also the region’s first LRTP to incorporate Federally-driven performance measures and targets on areas related to safety, system condition, and performance. The LRTP update also took advantage of new planning tools from PennDOT, specifically the asset management systems for bridges and pavements. The projects and policies being advocated through this plan will help us to continue to meet our long-term goals and targets. The LRTP itself represents the region’s long-range outlook and 25-year spending plan. Since we will always need to plan and program projects within a limited funding environment, plans such as this will help us in spending our limited transportation dollars toward improving and optimizing our transportation system in the most effective way possible. The LRTP is a living document and process. On behalf of my colleagues at the Northwest Commission and the regional Transportation Advisory Committee, I invite your ongoing interest and involvement in the transportation planning process for Northwest Pennsylvania. Sincerely, Dan Glotz, Chairman Northwest Pennsylvania Rural Planning Organization Transportation Advisory Committee i Acknowledgements Plan Advisory Committee Kristi Amato Dan Keane Clarion County Planning Commission PennDOT Program Center Marilyn Black Courtney Lyle Oil Heritage Region Alliance of Business, Industry, PennDOT District 1-0 and Tourism Jennifer Crobak, AICP Zach Norwood FHWA Pennsylvania Division Crawford County Planning Commission Lyndsie DeVito Jason Ruggiero PennDOT District 1-0 Venango County Planning Commission Doug Dupnock Brian Sharkey PennDOT District 10-0 PennDOT Program Center Timothy Geibel Travis Siegel Crawford Area Transit Northwest Commission Dan Glotz Donna Zofcin Warren County Planning Commission Forest County Planning Commission Consulting Team Brian Funkhouser, AICP, Project Manager Jamie Lemon, AICP Tracey Vernon, AICP, PP ii 2020-45 Long Range Transportation Plan Northwest Commission Transportation Advisory Committee Voting Members (2019) Dan Glotz, Chairman Marilyn Black, Vice-Chair Warren County Oil Region Alliance Clarion County PennDOT District 1-0 Kristi Amato Jim Foringer Kevin Reichard Brian McNulty Wayne Brosius, Commissioner Ed Heasley, Commissioner (Alt) PennDOT District 10-0 Doug Dupnock Crawford County Harold Swan John Christopher Soff, Commissioner Dick Astor PennDOT Central Office Zachary Norwood Brian Sharkey John Amato, Commissioner (Alt) Kevin McCullough Forest County Donna Zofcin Rail Basil Huffman, Commissioner Steve Patterson Norm Wimer, Commissioner Robert Snyder, Commissioner (Alt) Transit Timothy Geibel Venango County Jason Ruggerio Aviation Marilyn Black William Buchna Vince Witherup, Commissioner Rich Ruditis (Alt) Tim Brooks, Commissioner (Alt) Freight Warren County Robert Klasen Dan Glotz Jeff Eggleston, Commissioner At-Large Wendy Hollabaugh Greg Lander Mike Holtz (Alt) Wendy Nickerson iii iv 2020-45 Long Range Transportation Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 3 BACKGROUND/OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................... 3 EXISTING CONDITIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 PUBLIC AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... 4 THE 900 MILLION DOLLAR PLAN ...................................................................................................................................... 4 INVESTMENT PLAN ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 NEXT STEPS................................................................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 9 REGIONAL TRENDS AND FORCES AFFECTING TRANSPORTATION .......................................... 11 SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ............................................................................................................................................ 11 MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 13 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ....................................................................................................... 25 STAKEHOLDER AND PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR PROJECT IDENTIFICATION ..................................................................................... 26 PROJECT EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................................... 27 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING IN NORTHWEST PA ................................................................................................................ 27 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION ........................................................................ 32 LRTP PROJECT LISTING ................................................................................................................................................. 32 2021-45 FISCALLY-CONSTRAINED AND UNCONSTRAINED PROJECT LISTINGS ..........................................................................