PRESS RELEASE
EASTERN SHORE METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTS
THE EASTERN SHORE – January 23, 2014 – The Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Board held a meeting on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, in the City of Fairhope Council Chambers in Fairhope, Alabama. The Policy Board is the governing body of the MPO.
The first item of business for the MPO Policy Board was consideration of a proposed resolution to amend the MPO planning area to include the causeway and I-10 bayway up to the Baldwin County line. The MPO planning area represents the geographic area(s) likely to become urbanized within the next twenty years. Because the bayway and causeway are important components of the Eastern Shore MPO’s transportation network, adding these thoroughfares to the planning area allows the Policy Board to consider the bayway and causeway in the MPO’s long range transportation plans. The Policy Board followed the recommendations of the MPO Advisory Committees and unanimously adopted Resolution 2014-01 amending the planning area to include the causeway and bayway.
The Policy Board discussed whether the MPO member governments should be required to have a resolution from their governing councils before submitting a project to be included on an MPO project list.[1] After considering the different pros and cons of various options the Policy Board unanimously elected to follow the recommendation of the Citizens Advisory Committee and allow a project to be submitted onto the visionary/needs project list without a resolution but require the affirmative vote of the Policy Board members (or their proxies) representing the local government who is sponsoring the project.
The Policy Board considered fourteen projects submitted to be added to the visionary/needs project list. The visionary list is a list of unfunded projects that are recognized needs within the planning area. After considering each of the submitted projects and hearing the recommendation of the MPO Advisory Committees, the Policy Board adopted Resolution 2014-03 adding the fourteen projects to the MPO visionary list.
With the added projects the visionary list now contains twenty one projects: one in the City of Spanish Fort, seven in the City of Daphne, seven in the City of Fairhope, and six Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) projects. Projects can be viewed on the MPO interactive project map available on the MPO website (http://easternshorempo.org/interactive-map/).
MPO staff provided an update to the Policy Board regarding the travel model development for the MPO planning area. The MPO is currently building a computer model that will help identify traffic congestion issues that the Eastern Shore is likely to face in the next 25-30 years. The model will help the MPO Policy Board and the Advisory Committees evaluate the needs and possible solutions throughout the planning area.
The travel model divides the MPO planning area into 275 zones and then calculates the estimated number of trips from each zone to every other zone based on households, employment, and school enrollment in each zone. The MPO collected the following 2010 data for the MPO planning area:
- 2010 Population: 98,178
- 2010 Occupied Households: 38,898
- 2010 Avg. Persons per Household: 2.54
- 2010 Businesses: 5737 (Retail: 1268; Nonretail: 4473)
- 2010 Employees: 41,067 (Retail: 12,947; Nonretail: 28,120)
- 2010 Students: 20,207
The MPO developed 2040 projections from three independent third-party sources. Based on these projections, MPO staff anticipate the planning area population to increase from 98,178 to approximately 164,262 (a 66,000+ increase). The Policy Board members agreed that the coming population will require the local governments to work together to find creative solutions for our transportation needs, especially as funding for transportation projects continues to dry up.
The Policy Board adopted Resolution 2014-04 amending the MPO Bylaws to change the title of the Baldwin County Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) representative and to clarify the quorum requirements for the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC).
A transcript of the meeting minutes for the Policy Board meeting is expected to be available on the MPO website in approximately two weeks. Meeting minutes for Advisory Committee meetings are currently available on the MPO website.
The next meeting of the Eastern Shore MPO Policy Board is scheduled for Wednesday, March 26, 2014, at 10:00 AM in the Council Chambers at Daphne City Hall. For more information regarding the Eastern Shore MPO please visit www.easternshorempo.org or email coordinator@easternshorempo.org.
Click the link below to view the Agenda Action Taken for the January 22, 2014 Policy Board meeting. Meeting Minutes are anticipated February 5, 2014.
[1] The MPO maintains three different project lists:
1) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Projects: These are projects that have funding in the next four years.
2) Financially Constrained Projects: These are projects with committed, foreseeable funding sources, but not in the next four years.
3) Visionary/Needs Projects: These projects are unfunded but needed projects within the MPO Planning Area.