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Dauphin County staff: long-range transportation plan ready for adoption; active-transportation summit, transit plan updates underway
Summary
County planning staff told the commission Sept. 8 that the long-range transportation plan is moving to adoption, that an active-transportation summit is scheduled for November, and that updates to safety and asset-management tools and a coordinated transit plan are in progress.
Dauphin County planning staff told the commission on Sept. 8 that the region’s long-range transportation plan (RTP) is nearing formal adoption and that several related projects are moving forward, including an active-transportation summit, an updated safety dashboard and asset-management web tool, and a coordinated public-transit/human-services planning effort focused on paratransit needs.
“Through our public outreach efforts, we had over 400 people reply to our survey,” Andrew, a county planning staff member, said during the meeting, describing the RTP public-comment period that ran July 1–Aug. 15 and the in-person and virtual sessions held to gather input.
The RTP will be presented for an adoption recommendation at the commission’s next scheduled Friday meeting, Andrew said, followed by a full adoption vote two weeks later. Staff emphasized that front-loaded outreach — focus groups and events earlier in plan development — produced the most substantive input and that the final public-comment period is largely for review of a near-final document.
The commission was told the county will host an active-transportation summit in early November at Fort Hunter Park aimed primarily at municipal staff and officials. The summit will feature county presenters, someone from PennDOT, a representative from DCR, and a municipal roundtable focused on bicycle, pedestrian and trail planning.
Staff also described ongoing updates to a crash-data “safety dashboard” and an asset-management web application that allows municipal users to inspect bridge and pavement condition at a local level. Separately, the county has begun a coordinated public transit and human-services transportation plan update that staff said will focus on disabled and elderly mobility needs and paratransit coordination; staff expect that work to run roughly a year with an adoption target next September.
Why it matters: The RTP and these tools guide project prioritization and grant applications across municipalities in Dauphin County. Staff framed the outreach and the summit as efforts to give municipalities resources to plan locally while meeting federal requirements for public comment and coordination.
County staff asked commission members to be prepared to help publicize outreach opportunities and to participate in some of the upcoming events and focus groups.
Ending: Staff said they will circulate the final RTP materials and the summit agenda to commissioners ahead of the adoption vote and will report back on progress for the transit coordination plan over the coming year.
