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TPO previews FY26'27 Transportation Planning Work Program; adoption scheduled for August
Summary
Staff previewed the two-year Unified Planning Work Program that lays out required MPO planning tasks, performance monitoring, data collection and consultant studies; adoption is expected in August after federal/state review.
TPO staff provided an overview of the Fiscal Year 2026'27 Transportation Planning Work Program (also called the Unified Planning Work Program or UPWP), explaining the document's required contents and approval schedule.
Doug Burton, TPO coordinator, told the committee the UPWP is a required MPO product that covers two federal fiscal years: Oct. 1, 2025'Sept. 30, 2026 (FY26) and Oct. 1, 2026'Sept. 30, 2027 (FY27). He said the TPO followed an expectation memo from FHWA, FTA and TDOT for the plan structure, will submit a first draft to TDOT for review, then send a second draft to FHWA and FTA on June 2 before bringing the UPWP to the Technical Committee and Executive Board for adoption in August.
The draft work program groups tasks into six broad areas: program administration; data collection, analysis and monitoring; short-range and long-range planning (including mobility plan maintenance and travel model updates); multimodal and transit planning; and special studies and grant opportunities. Burton said staff expect to hire consultants for several tasks in the work program, including updates to the travel demand model, congestion management process, ITS architecture and certain corridor or small-area planning studies. He also noted federal grant deadlines and changing federal priorities could alter the UPWP during the review process.
No committee action was required. Staff sought feedback and will return with a formal adoption item in August, after TDOT and federal review.
Why it matters: the UPWP documents the region's transportation planning priorities, allocates planning staff time and federal planning dollars and authorizes certain planning projects and consultant contracts.
What's next: staff will incorporate comments from TDOT and federal reviewers and present the draft UPWP for adoption in August.
