Representatives from the Metro Area Planning Agency (MAPA) presented the draft RPA‑18 Long‑Range Transportation Plan to the Pottawatomie County Board on Tuesday, summarizing work done over the last 18 months and listing project priorities, funding opportunities and a timeline for final adoption.

Carlos Morales, transportation data manager for MAPA, explained that the RPA planning process assesses existing conditions and forecasts future transportation needs across the rural portions of Pottawatomie, Mills, Harrison and Shelby counties. “One of the big goals with the LRTP is to look at those existing status and future needs of the transportation system,” Morales said, citing mobility, safety, resilience and economic vitality among the plan’s core objectives.

MAPA planner Rachel (surname not specified in the meeting) walked Board members through county‑level highlights: a renewed local interest in multiuse trails and connections to the Great American Rail Trail; rural transit needs for older and low‑income residents served by door‑to‑door services such as SWITA; roadway safety work under the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) framework; and resilience planning for Missouri River floodplain impacts on county roadways and bridges.

MAPA staff emphasized several grant opportunities. Of particular note was a federal discretionary program opening Sept. 8 that, for the current cycle, may fund eligible projects at 100% (no local match required). Morales said the program can cover preliminary engineering, NEPA clearances and legal work in addition to construction in later phases — a potential benefit for smaller rural communities that lack local match funds. MAPA staff also described state recreational trails grants and Transportation Alternatives (TAP) funds administered through RPA 18; the county already has one TAP‑programmed trail project on the railroad highway for FY2026.

The RPA public comment period runs through Sept. 8, and MAPA plans to submit the final LRTP to the Iowa DOT in November after addressing comments.

Why it matters: the plan identifies county priorities and potential funding sources for trails, bridge preservation, freight corridors and transit; the newly described 100% federal discretionary grant could accelerate projects that previously stalled for lack of local match. MAPA offered to help counties apply and, where capacity permits, act as an administrator for grant applications.

No Board action was required; MAPA requested feedback and said staff will incorporate public and Iowa DOT comments into the final LRTP.