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VTrans says RPCs will be invited to nominate regional projects; Multimodal Roadway Guide near internal adoption
Summary
VTrans updated the Transportation Advisory Committee on a statewide process inviting regional planning commissions to observe peers and nominate regionally identified projects "as available funding permits," and said the Multimodal Roadway Guide is in second-draft review with possible completion by late summer.
Matthew Arancio, a VTrans representative, told the Transportation Advisory Committee on June 2 that transportation planners from regional planning commissions are attending one another’s TAC meetings to learn about committee composition and operations and to coordinate approaches to statewide planning. He reviewed the Process for Non-metropolitan Local Official Participation in the Statewide Transportation Planning Process, a summary document updated every five years and shared with the Federal Highway Administration that explains how VTrans engages regional partners in the Transportation Planning Initiative, the Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
Arancio said updated language in the Vermont Planning Selection and Prioritization Process (VPSP2) now notes that RPCs would be invited to nominate regionally identified projects "as available funding permits." Taylor Newton asked whether VTrans was concerned about losing institutional knowledge from earlier VPSP2 training; Arancio said the process will continue through the Transportation Planning Initiative and that VTrans does not expect RPCs to resume formal rescoring but will look to RPCs to flag regional projects that should be removed from priority lists to allow others to proceed.
Arancio also reported VTrans has received a second draft of the Multimodal Roadway Guide from its consultants; internal review of that draft should take about a month, and the project could be complete by the end of summer though a third draft may be required. He said VTrans is already shifting internally toward the Guide’s context-based approach. Committee members raised questions about TIP/STIP integration, the project waiting list, and other opportunities for input such as reviewing paving plans.
The update was delivered as part of routine VTrans briefing materials and no formal committee action was taken. The Multimodal Roadway Guide timeline and VPSP2 clarifications are expected to be discussed further with staff and at future TAC meetings.
