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MPO outlines 2027 planning priorities and $988,000 UPWP allocation
Summary
Billings MPO staff presented the upcoming Unified Planning Work Program, reporting a decline in PL funds and a proposed $988,000 programming level for the next federal fiscal year; priorities include a LRTP update, travel demand modeling, traffic counts and trails feasibility studies.
Laura, the MPO coordinator, presented the MPO's annual Unified Planning Work Program and described the division's priorities for the next federal fiscal year. She told council the MPO plans to program roughly $988,000 of the available federal PL funds, with any unobligated balance carrying forward.
The presentation summarized required documents (a 5‑year long‑range transportation plan, an annual UPWP, and the Transportation Improvement Program) and outlined major ongoing and upcoming projects. Highlights included: updating the long‑range transportation plan (LRTP) to identify 20‑year network deficiencies and run travel demand models; maintaining annual motorized and non‑motorized traffic counts (a $20,000 line item); completing feasibility work on trail connections (Downtown‑Heights, Alkali Creek, Aronson Trail); and a complete‑streets economic analysis to measure return on investment.
Laura said MPO staffing was adjusted following FHWA/MDT guidance and that a traffic technician was moved into city planning to support data collection and analysis. She noted the MPO will primarily complete the LRTP in‑house but budgeted about $100,000 for travel demand model consulting software and contracted modeling support. Public outreach for the LRTP starts with events such as the Strawberry Festival.
Council members asked for clarification about the Grand Avenue project timeline (programmed in the TIP for 2028), use of counting cameras (not red‑light enforcement, only for traffic counts), and interest in advanced traffic‑analysis software being evaluated by MDT. Laura said the MPO will coordinate with city and county public works and return to council with updates and work sessions as the LRTP is developed.
