Below is an explanation from the Federal Highway Administration on the process of how the law is set up for the Cheyenne Area to receive Federal funds for any type of transportation project and how PlanCheyenne, our Transportation Plan plays a vital part.

To All: This is the list to keep; names and contact information for those who both represent as well as those who

           do not.  (It's dry, but plow through if you can.)

 

From: John Shepard <jshepard@laramiecounty.com>
Date: February 26, 2014, 10:40:37 AM MST
To: Commissioners <commissioners@laramiecounty.com>, Diane Humphrey <dhumphrey@laramiecounty.com>, Troy Thompson <tthompson@laramiecounty.com>, Amber Ash <aash@laramiecounty.com>, M Lee Hasenauer <mleehasenauer@laramiecounty.com>, Buck Holmes <bholmes@laramiecounty.com>
Cc: 'Tom Mason' <tmason@cheyennecity.org>, Dan Cooley <dcooley@laramiecounty.com>
Subject: RE: PlanCheyenne & Federal Funding for Transportation

Commissioners:  On the same note, as you review the final draft of the PlanCheyenne Update and have questions, please drop me an email or give me a call.  Gary Kranse was closely involved throughout the process as an advocate for County residents and property owners.  As in any cooperative venture, there is give and take, but overall the update is something we can work with.

John C. Shepard, AICP

Laramie Co Planning

jshepard@laramiecounty.com

633-4523

From: Tom Mason [mailto:tmason@cheyennecity.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 10:11 AM
To: Annette Williams; Bryan Cook; Dicky Shanor; Georgia Broyles; Jim Brown; Jimmy Valdez; Kris Jones; Mark Rinne; Mike Luna; Rick Kaysen; Sean Allen; Commissioners
Cc: Mark Voss; Daniel White; Don Beard; John Shepard; Dan Cooley; Matt Ashby; Rob Geringer
Subject: PlanCheyenne & Federal Funding for Transportation

Dear Mayor, Council Members and Commissioners:

Below is an explanation from the Federal Highway Administration on the process of how the law is set up for the Cheyenne Area to receive Federal funds for any type of transportation project and how PlanCheyenne, our Transportation Plan plays a vital part.

Tom
I will answer this question from the standpoint of Federal funding of transportation projects, (I defer to the city and county planners on land use/zoning issues under state statute).
23 CFR 450.322 sets forth requirements for development of an MPO plan that includes both long and short range transportation strategies for an integrated and multi-modal transportation system. This includes projects from all transportation providers within the MPO, including the City, County, transit and WYDOT. 23 CFR 450.322(c) requires the MPO to review and update the Plan at least every 5 years. The existing PlanCheyenne was adopted in November 2006 and the 5 year transportation plan update is past due.
23 CFR 450.324(a) requires the MPO to develop a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that is based upon the MPO Plan. The TIP provides 4 years of transportation projects for the MPO and gets incorporated into WYDOT’s State TIP (STIP). 23 CFR 450.324(g) requires that projects listed in the TIP be consistent with the adopted MPO Plan. Because the MPO Plan is more than 5 years old and has expired, we cannot advance any new projects in the TIP. For FY 14, we approved the STIP with the condition that the FY 14 TIP projects for the MPO only consist of projects being carried-over from the previous year’s TIP and that no new TIP projects will be approved for the MPO until the MPO plan update is complete.
23 CFR 450.324 (c) requires the TIP to include all transportation projects within the MPO proposed for funding under 23 U.S.C. (Federal-Aid Highways) and 49 U.S.C. (Transit), except safety and emergency projects. This includes most of the federally funded transportation programs implemented by the City, County, and WYDOT.
The National Highway Performance Program is the largest, which funds projects on the Interstate and other State Highways on the National Highway System. This includes I-25, I-80, Central, Warren, Lincolnway, College Drive, Greeley Highway and Happy Jack Road. While the amount varies from year to year, the Plan estimated the annual expenditures of WYDOT within the MPO at around $13,000,000 per year – the majority of which go towards maintenance and pavement rehabilitation on the various state highways. Not having a current MPO Plan and TIP limits WYDOT’s ability to program projects within the MPO for vital improvements to major highways through the city.
The Surface Transportation Program funds projects on city/county arterial and collector streets, such as Pershing, Dell Range, Converse, and other major City/County streets. WYDOT allocates $975,000 per year to the City and County for projects in the MPO. This funding is matched to local funds to provide major improvements to local streets, such as the recently completed reconstruction of Pershing.
Transit funding from FTA at about $1,040,000 per year would also be in jeopardy without an MPO TIP.
Based upon the funding numbers in the draft plan, not having a current MPO Plan (and therefore not having a plan to base the next TIP on) could impact approximately $15,000,000 a year in federal funding for transportation projects in the MPO. This funding is used to maintain the major streets and highways throughout the MPO.
The above are quick estimates based upon looking at the funding listed in the draft plan. WYDOT may have more accurate numbers and a better description of how they are planning to allocate federal funding in the MPO area.
Jeff Purdy, AICP, PTP
Planning and Right-of-Way Program Manager
Federal Highway Administration - Wyoming Division
2617 E. Lincolnway, Suite D
Cheyenne, WY 82001-5671
307-771-2942
jeffrey.purdy@dot.gov



Tom Mason, Director
Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
307-637-6299
tmason@cheyennempo.orghttp://www.PlanCheyenne.org