HPMPO Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC)

Attachment 1 MINUTES TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE October 28, 2014 TAC MEMBERS PRESENT: Jim Myers –Lexington Neal Grimes – Thomasville Larry Warlick – Archdale Keith Volz – Jamestown Clyde Lynn Reese – Wallburg Steve Shell – Davidson County Bill Bencini – Guilford County Cheryl McQueary – NCDOT Board Larry Ward – Denton TCC MEMBERS PRESENT: Greg Venable, Guy Cornman, Hemal Shah, Darius Sturdivant, Mark McDonald, Bryan Fulbright, Ed Lewis, Diane Hampton, Chuck George, Jeff Loflin, Matthew Johnson, Heidi Galanti, Roger Jones, Jesse Day, Lorelei Elkins, Kevin Edwards, Zeb Holden, Mark Kirstner, Scott Rhine, and Jay Dale. OTHERS PRESENT: Vickie Embry (High Point), Theo Ghitea (NCDOT Transportation Planning) RECORDING SECRETARY: Marianne Janiszewski, City of High Point Item 1: Reading of the Ethics Statement. Clyde Lynn Reece read the Ethics Awareness and Conflict of Interest Reminder. No one had any conflicts. ACTION ITEMS Item 2: Public Comment Period Lynn opened up the public comment period. No one spoke. Lynn closed the public comment period. Item 3: Consideration of the August 26, 2014 TAC meeting minutes. There was no change to the minutes. Motion by: Keith Volz Seconded: Jim Myers Vote: 1 Attachment 1 For: 8 Abstain: 1 Against: None Item 4: Appointment of the nominating committee for the election of TAC Officers for 2015. Clyde Lynn Reese appointed Larry Warlick, Jim Myers, and Keith Volz to serve on the nominating committee to select a Chair and Vice-Chair of the TAC for the upcoming year. The nominating committee will then report back to the TAC at the annual meeting in January for approval. Item 5: Consideration of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the High Point Urban Area MPO and the Cabarrus Rowan MPO. Recently our Metropolitan Area Boundary (MAB) has changed and includes all of Davidson County except for the area in Northern Davidson County located in the Winston-Salem MPO. The High Point MPO and The Winston-Salem MPO entered into a MOA detailing that the High Point MPO would be responsible for planning activities in the portion of Davidson County which actually is in the Winston-Salem urban area. An MOA is also needed between the High Point MPO and the Cabarrus-Rowan MPO (CRMPO) due to a small portion of the CRMPO urban area crossing the Yadkin River into Davidson County. Motion by: Bill Bencini Seconded: Cheryl McQueary Vote: For: Unanimous Against: None Item 6: Consideration to support the Regional Vision set forth by Piedmont Together. Mark Kirstner gave a presentation on the regional vision set forth by the Piedmont Together. Piedmont Together is made up of a diverse team of community stakeholders working to find solutions to challenges that the Piedmont Triad region currently faces. Looking through 2040, Piedmont Together's regional plan ensures a brighter future for all those calling the Piedmont home. Piedmont Together's plan focuses on housing, transportation, jobs, places and spaces, and health. While the plan is a regional development plan, Piedmont Together believes in hearing the concerns, wants, and needs of the Piedmont Triad at the community level. The proposed regional solutions are based on the voices of community members heard through more than 20 civic 2 Attachment 1 forums, surveys, and an annual regional summit. The Piedmont Together project team has also completed 16 reports and studies. Through our research we have learned key facts about the potential of our region's future, including: Nearly 350,000 new economy jobs requiring higher education will be added to the region by 2040. $2.1 billion could be pumped back into the local economy with a 5% reduction in transportation cost for residents. Our region's population is set to grow to 2 million people by 2040. For nearly three years, the Piedmont Together team worked with such data to develop a comprehensive plan that will better the future for all residents of the Piedmont Triad region. Our project began in October 2010 when the US Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Piedmont Triad a $1.6 million grant to aid in the development of a Regional Sustainable Communities Plan. The plan was released on March 27, 2014. http://piedmonttogether.org/ The Greensboro MPO has approved this plan. Mark will be presenting the plan to the Winston Salem MPO in November and Burlington in January. Cheryl McQuery voiced an issue with the wording of the resolution. She is concerned that if the resolution is adopted we are bound to do the things stated in the resolution. It will reduce the flexibility of the spending of our transportation money. She feels that it should say support instead of adopt. The plan mentioned a scholarship and the concern was where the money is going to come from. Mark Kirstner stated that if the resolution is adopted this does not mean there is any commitment of funds. They are basically asking for an adoption/support of the vision. There was a motion to change the resolution from adopt to support. This motion was accepted and voted on with the new wording. Motion by: Bill Bencini Seconded: Jim Myers Vote: For: Unanimous Against: None Item 7: Consideration of amendments to the High Point MPO Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP). There is one 2012-2018 MTIP amendment this month. 1. B-2358 – Model Farm Road – Replace Bridge No. 428 over branch of Richland Creek in High Point – ADD RIGHT-OF-WAY IN FY 15 AND CONSTRUCTION IN FY 16 NOT PREVIOUSLY PROGRAMMED 3 Attachment 1 Motion by: Jim Myers Seconded: Bill Bencini Vote: For: Unanimous Against: None Information Items Item 8: Update on the selection of Transit Representative to the TAC as a voting member and the MPO not being designated as a Transportation Management Area (TMA). If the population of the MPO is 200,000 or above the MPO is designated as a TMA. This designation allows the MPO to have access to additional funding but also must meet additional planning requirements. The High Point MPO has never been above 200,000 in population but because our MPO boundary contains urban areas from adjacent TMA’s we are designated as a TMA. However, we do not receive the additional funding that comes with being a TMA but we still must meet the additional planning requirements. Recently, the language has changed and it is our decision if we would like to be designated as a TMA. Part of one of the requirements to be a TMA is to have a transit representative as a voting member on the TAC. Becky Smothers currently fills that requirement. Item 9: SPOT Update. Scores for all Regional and Division projects have been released and we are currently in a holding pattern until December when the DRAFT State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) is released. The SPOT workgroup has already began meeting to determine any changes in the process and to develop a schedule for SPOT 4.0. Cheryl McQuery gave an update on the prioritization and funding. There is a discussion going on about a one billion dollar bond effort. NC was notified that it could increase its bonding capacity. There was some discussion within the Department if we should go for this one billion dollar bond. Secretary Tata asked if we go to the legislature for a one billion dollar bond what are the projects that we could fund with this money. There were 22 potential projects on the list, one in High Point, one in Guilford County, and one in Alamance that Division 7 would benefit from. In terms of programming maybe half of those 22 projects on the list to take for the bond referendum are potentially going to be funded. It is Cheryl’s understanding that this is a legislative action and does not have to be voted on. Item 10: 2015-2016 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) schedule. 4 Attachment 1 Greg stated that it is time to do the 2015-2016 Planning Work Program. Greg reviewed the schedule of key dates. A draft will be presented at the January meeting and then it will be submitted to the State. He advised the jurisdictions to think about what special studies you would like to have done. Item 11: Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) update and schedule. It is time to update the LRTP, now called the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). Because our Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) and MTP both must go through the Air Quality Conformity process we are going to do them simultaneously. This will create less confusion than going through two separate conformity process within a matter of months. Greg reviewed the draft schedule. AGENCY REPORTS Item 11: Division Engineers Report Division 7 Ed Lewis reported Jeff Man was hired as the Deputy Secretary of Traffic. He has 18 years of transit experience. There are not many changes since the last meeting. The construction on the traffic signal revisions were on hold until after market. The design build of 12 bridges and the replacement bridge on Groomtown Rd. are 31% complete and the schedule is 73% complete. These should be completed in about one year. Division 8 Darius Sturdivant reported that there is a feasibility study that has been initiated for I-85 interchange in Archdale. A scoping meeting was held in August and the draft feasibility report should be ready in Spring 2015 with the final report ready in Summer 2015. The resurfacing projects that were let in the spring are currently near completion. Work is getting ready to start on the second set of projects that was let in August. The crosswalk and pedestrian project on Main St. at Balfour Dr./Ashland St. in Archdale is scheduled to be let in January, 2015. Division 9 Diane Hampton reported that there are several bridge projects that are under construction. The bridge preservation projects on I-85 to south of Salisbury Rd. and the bridges over Swearing Creek on US 29/52/70 are half way complete. This project also involves a lot of repaving of the old pavement and also reconfiguration of the interchange at Green Needles. Division 9 has several projects under development and several completed projects. The most recent completed project was the widening and super-elevation improvements on NC 150, south of Wilson Rd. near Lexington. Item 12: Triad Air Awareness. Lorelei Elkins reported that this year was a fantastic air quality year. We are in full compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. She reviewed some 5 Attachment 1 graphs showing the air quality during the year. The EPA is reviewing the air quality standard for ground level ozone this December. We are expecting to see a tightening of the standards. She extended an invitation to the end of pollution season appreciation luncheon on November 7 at the Botanical Gardens in Kernersville. She will send the link to Greg. Item 13: NCDOT Transportation Planning Branch Report. Hemal reported that she is currently working on the HPMPO Comprehensive Transportation Plan Roadway Inventory and it is scheduled to be completed at the end of December. Item 14: Hi tran Report Angela Wynes was not present but Mark reported that things are progressing with the Short Range Transit Plan. This is expected to be completed the first part of 2015. Item 15: PART Report Scott Rhine reported that they have finalized the procurement process for new buses. This is specifically related to the Hi tran system as well as Greensboro, and Burlington who is looking at starting a new system. This is also going to be available to other systems state wide. We are still working on the development of a Regional Call Center for our fixed route transit systems. We will also be looking at expanding this to other counties. Cheryl McQuery asked if riders will be able to use the app to pay. Scott said it depends on the individual systems. Item 16: Other Business Mark reported that the Southwest Renewal Foundation in High Point is pursuing a planning grant for bicycle and pedestrian. Part of the grant application which is due on December 4 is a resolution of support from the City Council and the MPO. This resolution will be on the agenda for the November meeting. There was no other business. The meeting was adjourned. 6