Mat Su Valley MPO seeks project nominations for long-range plan; Assembly briefed on $10M-per-year federal allocation

Kim Solian, executive director of Mat Su Valley Planning for Transportation (MVP), visited the Assembly to introduce the region's MPO, describe the MTP update process and launch the formal call for projects. Solian outlined the MPO's governance, the 20-year planning horizon and the requirement that projects be listed in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan to be eligible for federal funding. She said the formal call for projects launched Jan. 28 and that the first TIP year will program roughly $16 million (about $10 million annually in flexible STBG funds plus smaller pots for carbon-reduction and transportation alternatives programs).

Solian urged borough staff and assembly members to work with the MVP staff to nominate projects that might otherwise be overlooked and explained the scoring matrix the MPO will use to prioritize submissions. Assembly questions focused on whether the MPO funds can pay for borough roads vs. state roads; Solian clarified the distinction between MPO funding and state DOT funds and emphasized that the policy board will set local priorities.

Next steps: MVP will accept project nominations during the call-for-projects window and expects to evaluate and score nominations later in the spring. Borough staff were asked to coordinate with MVP so borough candidate projects are included in the regional submission.