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Chittenden County TAC endorses VTrans NHS reliability targets, advances FY24 UPWP and hires consultant for Milton charette
Summary
At its May 2 meeting the Transportation Advisory Committee unanimously recommended the FY24 Unified Planning Work Program to the CCRPC board, accepted VTrans' statewide National Highway System pavement and bridge reliability targets for the metropolitan area, and approved hiring DuBois & King for the Milton Downtown Core Charette project.
The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Transportation Advisory Committee met virtually May 2 and unanimously approved several items advancing regional planning work.
Chair Barbara Elliott called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. and the committee first approved the minutes of April 4, 2023; Sam Andersen (GBIC representative) moved the minutes be approved, and Bob Henneberger seconded.
Marshall Distel, Senior Transportation Planner at CCRPC, reviewed the draft FY2024 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), outlining funding by planning category and task areas. Kurt Johnson moved that TAC recommend approval of the FY2024 UPWP to the CCRPC Board; Sam Andersen seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
CCRPC staff also presented Transportation Performance Management materials and statewide targets established by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans). Eleni Churchill, Transportation Program Manager at CCRPC, and Sai Sarepalli, Senior Transportation Planning Engineer, summarized pavement and bridge condition measures and National Highway System (NHS) reliability targets and noted the MPO has 180 days to accept statewide targets or set its own.
During discussion, FHWA representative Chris Jolly said statewide pavement targets were not met largely because of rutting on interstate pavement and noted the state’s unmet safety targets constrain how some safety funds may be spent. Sam Andersen questioned the 28% target for pavement in “good” condition as low and asked whether pavement condition index (PCI) scores were used; staff said Sai Sarepalli will provide PCI information after the meeting. Committee members also raised questions about how trucks’ origins and destinations are tracked — and how cross-border (Canadian) truck travel would be captured when a per-mile fee is implemented — with staff noting some origin-destination information exists but datasets and tracking are limited.
Kurt Johnson moved that the TAC accept the latest statewide NHS infrastructure and system reliability performance targets established by VTrans for the metropolitan planning area and recommend CCRPC Board approval; Adam Wechsler seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
On project delivery, Taylor Newton (Planning Program Manager, CCRPC) explained that CCRPC had issued an RFP for the Milton Downtown Core Charette because staff lacked a pre-qualified consultant with the needed expertise. Matthew Arancio (VTrans) asked that the Route 7 corridor study be referenced in the project; Newton confirmed that study was included in the RFP. Bob Henneberger moved that TAC approve hiring DuBois & King as consultant for the Milton Downtown Core Charette; Sam Andersen seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
Staff also shared a map of the NHS in Chittenden County in the meeting chat and noted data sources for travel time and freight reliability (the National Performance Measures Research Data Set from INRIX, 2017–2021).
The committee closed its agenda items and agreed to meet June 6, 2023; Bryan Davis asked whether members were interested in an in-person meeting with hybrid options and received positive feedback. The meeting adjourned at 9:59 a.m.
