Cape Cod MPO staff present 2026 Unified Planning Work Program, seek public comment through May 12, 2025

Colleen Medeiros, transportation program manager at the Cape Cod Commission and staff to the Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization, said the commission prepares three federal transportation documents for the MPO and that the UPWP ‘‘describes all the significant transportation planning activities on Cape Cod over the 12 month period regardless of lead organization and funding source.’’

The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for federal fiscal 2026, presented by Dave Nolan, senior transportation planner at the Cape Cod Commission, lays out annual management and support tasks, data collection and analysis, a set of short- and long-range planning studies and technical-assistance activities. Nolan said, ‘‘Simply put, the UPWP is the scope of work for MPO staff on a year to year basis.’’ The draft UPWP is out for a 14-day public comment period that the presenters said ends May 12, 2025; the MPO may consider endorsement of the UPWP at its May 19, 2025 meeting.

Why it matters: the UPWP defines the MPO staff workload and the region’s planning priorities for the coming year. The document directs staff time and funding for everything from federally required certification activities to local corridor studies, and it helps determine which studies inform future capital projects included in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Key UPWP tasks and studies - Ongoing management and certification work: UPWP and TIP administration, federal certification review, environmental justice/Title VI work, and updates to the public participation plan. - Data collection and analysis: traffic counts and roadway-volume data, pavement management surveys, crash-performance monitoring and GIS tools and viewers. - Route 6A visioning study (year two): staff will continue corridor-specific analysis of crash history, speeds, traffic volumes and multimodal infrastructure; planned summer public outreach includes pop-up events and meetings. Presenters emphasized coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and sensitivity to Route 6A’s historic context. - Transportation Safety Task: road safety audits and a before-and-after study to evaluate crash outcomes where improvements were implemented. Nolan cited a Sandwich roundabout example where crashes fell from 27 in the four years before construction to six in the four years after. - Transit Needs Assessment (two-year): outreach-heavy effort with surveys, flyers and an online public comment/data viewer to solicit rider feedback for the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority network. - Local housing and multimodal trip-generation study: on‑site counts at multiple housing types to produce locally calibrated trip-generation and parking-demand rates for planning use. - Local bike-share research: background analysis and outreach to communities that have deployed bike‑share, to inform feasibility and funding options. - Action plan implementation support: continued work on low-lying roads susceptible to climate impacts, tracking Vision Zero action items and assisting towns with related grant applications.

The UPWP draft groups some tasks that are recurring (management, data collection) and others that are more flexible year to year (corridor visioning, housing trip‑generation, bike‑share research). Nolan said staff also reserve a funding category for ‘‘other technical assistance requests’’ that arise during the year.

Public process and next steps The presenters said the draft UPWP was released to begin a 14-day public comment period ending May 12, 2025, and that the MPO will consider endorsement at its May 19, 2025 meeting. Staff invited comments during the meeting and described upcoming in‑region outreach events tied to the UPWP studies.

Details and documents referenced during the presentation are available on the Cape Cod Commission MPO webpage at capecodcommission.org/mpo, the presenters said.