Transportation Planning

Regional Transportation Plan

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Rehabilitation of the Gill-Montague bridge will be a top priority in the 2007 Regional Transportation Plan.

Project Overview

In the fall of 2005, the FRCOG began to update the region's Long-Range Regional Transportation Plan. The last update was completed in 2003. The plan is a comprehensive document which provides the basis for transportation planning in the region. The plan reviews all types of transportation services and infrastructure, including roadways, passenger rail, freight transport, airports, bus services, sidewalks, and on and off-road bike routes. For each topic, the plan details current conditions and identifies key issues and assets. The plan uses a 25-year time horizon to project future population trends transportation needs, and financial constraints, and makes recommendations for future transportation improvements based on these forecasts. The plan recommendations also reflect sustainable development principles and the primary transportation goals established for the region. These goals include: enhancing the mobility of people and goods in the region; improving safety; maintaining rural character; preserving current transportation infrastructure; and supporting a balanced transportation system which provides alternatives to automobile and truck travel.

The creation of the Long-Range Transportation Plan includes extensive public participation. The sections of the plan are reviewed by the Transportation Subcommittee of the Franklin Regional Planning Board, composed of representatives from different towns and with different transportation interests, and by the Franklin County Transportation Planning Organization made up of state, regional and local representatives. Public information meetings on the plan are held in different parts of the county, and the public can comment on any aspect of the plan during the public comment period. Public input is also used to establish the main recommendations of the plan and to identify the top three priority future transportation projects for the region.

Current Activities

FRCOG staff and the Frankln County Transportation Planning Organization completed and endorsed the 2007 Update to the Long Range Regional Transportation Plan in April, 2007. The 2007 Update contain a new sections on sustainable transportation and energy efficiency, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Safety, and Security. In addition, they reflect state transportation initiatives such as the Fix-It First policy focusing on system preservation and the Communities First policy of context sensitive design and community involvement in decision making. It also reflects the priorities of the 2005 Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan, entitled "A Framework for Thinking - A Plan for Action", and the federal transportation legislation SAFETEA-LU (Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users).

Future Plans

Plan recommendations will be pursued through the Franklin annual transportation work program. A full update of the Regional Transportation Plan will take place again in 2011, and will include new demographic information from the 2010 U.S. Decennial Census.

Links

No links available at this time.

This page was last updated on 1/18/08 .

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