New Bullhead-area MPO readies work program, seeks consultant for 20-year plan

Johnny Loera, interim executive director of the newly formed metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Bullhead City area, told the Bullhead Area Transit Commission on Feb. 3 that the MPO is now staffed and beginning core planning tasks. “We are now fully staffed. We're a staff of 2 people, myself and we have a staff member that just came on,” Loera said.

Loera said the MPO’s immediate priorities are administrative setup, preparing a Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), developing a public-participation plan and a Title VI civil-rights plan, and contracting a consultant to produce a 20-year long-range transportation plan. That long-range plan will be followed by a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that lists specific projects for state and federal funding. “Our first real task is to produce a work program. It's called a Unified Planning Work Program,” he said.

The MPO has an office at Monarch Plaza (the transcript gives the location as “Monarch Plaza”; a specific street number was not specified). Loera said staff have attended meetings with other MPOs and councils of governments to learn required processes, and that this MPO is the only newly formed MPO in Arizona following the 2020 Census. He described the long-range planning process as taking 12 to 18 months after a consultant is selected, and said the MPO will present progress updates to its executive board and advisory committee.

Loera told the commission the long-range study will examine transit service, road conditions and potential capital upgrades such as turn lanes and signals. After public outreach and executive-board direction, projects from the long-range plan will be considered for inclusion in the TIP and then submitted to ADOT and federal highways for funding. “That process takes 12 to 18 months once we choose a consultant for them to study our transit system, study the condition of the roads,” Loera said.

Commissioners asked whether the MPO’s documents will be available to the public. Loera said the MPO will create a separate website and post committee reports and draft plans there for public review and comment. “We will create a website. And when these reports get presented to our committee, they will be posted online as well for the public to look at and to comment on,” he said.

Why it matters: the MPO will set the policy and project list that determine which Bullhead-area transportation projects are eligible for state and federal funding. The scope and schedule of the UPWP and long-range plan will shape project priorities, grant eligibility and future capital requests.

Loera said meeting schedules for the MPO’s advisory committee and executive board will begin in March, and that public participation will be emphasized when draft plans are ready for review. He also noted required civil-rights and public-engagement work will be completed before major plan approvals.

The MPO update did not include any formal actions by the commission; it was presented as an informational item and followed by questions from commissioners about public access to documents.