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Corridor MPO outlines regional transportation funding and grant push for Marion
Summary
Liz Burke, Corridor MPO manager, told the Marion City Council that the MPO coordinates regional transportation planning and programs about $8 million a year in federal funds for roads, trails and transit; Marion pays roughly $100,000 annually in local dues.
Liz Burke, Corridor MPO manager, told the Marion City Council during its June 3 work session that the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) coordinates regional short- and long-range transportation planning and programs federal transportation funds for road, trail and transit projects.
"MPOs are transportation policy-making boards that are required by both federal and Iowa law," Burke said. She said Marion is one of the MPO’s members and pays about $100,000 a year in local dues; those local dues are matched about 80% with federal funds for staff salaries and planning work.
The MPO manager said the organization consolidates regionally significant projects into its long-range plan and allocates limited federal dollars through a Transportation Improvement Program. "If you think about all the projects that any community in the region wants to complete as far as transportation goes, the MPO takes the projects that are regional in nature and puts them into our long range plan," Burke said.
Council members pressed Burke on the scale of the program’s annual funding. "What is the on an annual basis, average, what is the amount of money that gets funded through the CMPO?" one councilmember asked. Burke replied, "It's about $8,000,000 a year."
Burke and council members also discussed discretionary federal grants — competitively awarded funds outside formula allocations — as a way to bring additional infrastructure dollars into Marion. Burke said the MPO and member cities have been actively pursuing discretionary grants for roads and trails. Council members asked how federal delegation seniority affects grant success. Burke said formula-funded MPO allocations are set by formula, but added that longer-serving legislators can be influential on discretionary dollars.
Council members noted the MPO plans a Washington, D.C., outreach trip to press federal legislators about discretionary funding for a regional project on Tower Terrace Road that advanced in the process but missed funding when allocations ran out.
The presentation closed with council praise for the MPO’s coordination role and an invitation for questions.
The MPO presentation was an informational item; no council action on MPO funding or membership was taken at the June 3 work session.
