WFRC TAC reviews TIP ‘roadshow’ of 139 projects; staff to provide de-duplicated funding totals ahead of March meeting

At an online meeting of the Wasatch Front Regional Council Technical Advisory Committee, WFRC staff presented an overview — dubbed the TIP “roadshow” — of proposed transportation projects for CMAQ, carbon reduction (CRP), STP and TAP programs. Staff said the slate includes dozens of projects that together far exceed available funding and that the TAC must prioritize projects for a March recommendation to Transcom and the regional council.

Ben Wutherich, who led the presentation for WFRC staff, told the TAC the solicitation produced a large number of proposals: 87 projects were submitted in the Salt Lake urban area with an estimated combined project cost exceeding $823,000,000. He said 32 STP requests seek more than $174,000,000 while the estimated amount available for STP is about $20,000,000. Wutherich summarized program-level requests: 19 CMAQ requests totaling more than $52,000,000; 20 CRP requests totaling over $51,000,000; and 16 TAP requests totaling over $25,000,000.

Why it matters: Committee members must identify a smaller set of recommended projects that fit limited program funding. The review is informational now; TAC will meet in March to recommend a draft program for Transcom and the regional council’s review.

Notable projects and requests: Staff highlighted several large or recurring requests, including a UTA Salt Lake Central transit improvements project with a $55,000,000 total estimate and a $10,000,000 funding request, and a Davis–Salt Lake connector bus operations request from UTA totaling $24,800,000 where the agency sought $5,000,000 for three years of operations (about $1.66 million per year).

Double-counting concerns: Committee members raised that many projects are eligible in multiple programs and thus appear multiple times across program tallies, inflating the apparent total ask. A TAC participant, Becca, asked whether the multi-program entries are counted multiple times in the total “ask.” Wutherich acknowledged projects can appear in multiple program lists and said staff would provide a de-duplicated summary.

“We'll just send out a summary of adding up all the projects once and then the funds available once and we'll include that in the meeting materials that go out for the summaries,” Wutherich said in response to the TAC question about double counting.

Evaluation process and schedule: Wutherich explained the project evaluation is already underway with field reviews completed for many Salt Lake-area projects; the months of January–March are the main evaluation window. He said WFRC staff will bring prioritized recommendations to the TAC in March; TAC will pass recommendations to Transcom and then to the regional council for final program adoption.

Committee discussion: TAC members asked procedural and clarity questions about sponsor project priorities, how staff assign a project to one funding source versus another, and how applicants can expect staff to move projects between funding sources to maximize chances of funding. John Miller of Mill Creek and Wayne Bennion of WFRC both commented that a de-duplicated total would be a useful message and that staff should provide clearer single-number tallies to show realistic demand versus program availability.

Next steps: WFRC staff said slide packages and program tables will be posted on the web and that the March TAC meeting will be important for in-person deliberations. No formal votes were taken on project funding at the session; the presentation was informational.

Votes at the meeting: The TAC approved the Jan. 15 meeting minutes at the start of the session (motion by a Midvale representative, seconded by Matt Castle) and later adjourned by motion from Matt Castle and a second from Chris Northam of Salt Lake City; both procedural actions passed by voice vote with no opposition noted.

Ending note: Staff urged TAC members to attend the March meeting in person if possible to facilitate deliberations and signaled they will supply the requested de-duplicated totals ahead of that meeting.