Jackson Fox, executive director of FAST Planning, told the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly Committee of the Whole on July 17 that the metropolitan planning organization's project selection process is federally required and relies on a 20-year long-range transportation plan and a four-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). FAST Planning staff described scoring criteria, advisory committees and how projects move from long-range lists into the four-year funding plan.

FAST Planning, Fox said, is required for the urbanized area to receive federal highway and transit funds. The MPO allocates an approximate local sub-allocation of federal money for projects in its boundary; Fox said FAST Planning's annual local allocation is about $12.5 million across multiple funding categories and that the organization aims to spend roughly 80% on traditional roadway projects and 20% on non-motorized projects.

Fox described the agency's process: a 20-year long-range plan with project lists (short-, medium-, long- and very-long-range), supplemental plans (freight, road-rail crossing reduction, bicycle and pedestrian), a public steering committee and a technical committee that scores project nominations. Projects nominated by local sponsors (cities, borough departments, University of Alaska Fairbanks) are ranked by the technical committee and forwarded to the policy board to fill the funding window until the money runs out.

He described programmatic funds that FAST Planning manages: the FAST Improvement Program for preventative maintenance (mill-and-pave, path repairs), an air-quality program (CMAQ and carbon-reduction funds) that requires emission-benefit calculations, and a transportation alternatives program for sidewalks and paths. He noted the MPO may award project bundles or program pools to increase efficiency.

On statewide funding, Fox explained that the recently accepted statewide STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Program) covers through Sept. 30, 2027, but that the governor's line-item vetoes of state match funding removed, delayed or pushed projects into later years. "Until that match funding is restored, we don't have enough state match money to access the federal highway funding that is available to the state of Alaska next year," Fox said. He said some DOT projects were delayed to 2027 or 2028 and some were removed from the near-term schedule.

Assembly members asked about specific projects, including the Chena Riverwalk/Chena River bridge replacement and why a bicycle or pedestrian facility was not included with a DOT bridge project. Fox said cost and tradeoffs drove DOT's decisions and that FAST Planning would pursue alternative connection options, including a separated asphalt path through the floodplain where feasible, while recognizing maintenance and flood challenges.

Fox also described FAST Planning's community outreach and non-federal activities: a bike-friendly-business program, donated repair kits placed at businesses, bicycle-rack installations and youth workforce partnerships such as a Girls Who Weld project that built racks. He said FAST Planning hosts about 50 public meetings a year and maintains recorded proceedings.

Why it matters: The MPO identifies and prioritizes the region's transportation projects and controls a locally allocated share of federal transportation funding; changes to state match funding can delay or remove projects from the short-term construction pipeline and affect local planning and maintenance windows.