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Chittenden County PAC reviews draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan; staff call for comments through Feb. 24
Summary
CRRPC staff presented a draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan and sought public input through Feb. 24. Committee members questioned stormwater funding accounting, urged stronger land-use linkages and suggested edits to goals on safety, equity and Complete Streets.
Taylor Newton, planning program manager for the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), opened the Planning Advisory Committee’s meeting and introduced a presentation on the draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan on Jan. 11.
The draft MTP was presented by Eleni Churchill, transportation program manager, along with senior transportation planners Christine Forde and Jason Charest; staff said public comments will be accepted through Feb. 24. The presenters described a set of scenarios and budget tables and invited committee feedback.
Paul Conner, a PAC member from South Burlington, said the stormwater funding line in the table “seems low given the amount of work in this realm.” Christine Forde responded that the table reflects prior—not future—funding and that some stormwater work is funded through other categories as part of comprehensive programs; the specific stormwater line reflects grant projects only. Taylor Newton added that the figures shown account only for federal funds and do not include state funding.
Alex Weinhagen, a PAC member from Hinesburg, asked whether the mileage-based fee shown in the scenarios—listed as 5 cents per mile—was a firm proposal. Eleni Churchill said the mileage-based fee is “purely aspirational at this point” but that VTrans is studying the idea in light of increased electric vehicle use.
Weinhagen also offered text edits and substantive suggestions on the MTP’s goals and objectives: he asked for a clearer explanation of a “safe system” approach to safety, suggested replacing the vague phrase “commuter stops” with “Villages and Downtowns served by transit,” and recommended explicitly adding Complete Streets in the section on improving public health. Churchill said the draft will explain the safe-system approach in a forthcoming revision and described VTrans’ Transportation Equity Framework as a broad effort to incorporate equity into capital programming and hiring decisions.
Paul Conner said the presentation’s vision and goals did not directly connect to land-use goals in staff materials and urged elevating that link in the draft.
What’s next: CCRPC staff will accept comments on the draft MTP through Feb. 24 and incorporate feedback into subsequent drafts before final adoption processes are scheduled.
