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Show The regional growth project has extensively evaluated how changing the region's land use patterns to reduce urban sprawl may result in a more efficient transportation system, reduce environmental impacts and the need for costly future public infrastructure (including transportation), improve access to jobs, services and trade centers and examine and encourage private sector development patterns which achieve these goals. The Regional Growth Project, the new planning process and new regulatory requirements based on TEA-21 have all converged and result in a substantially different set of transportation investment strategies in the Regional 2025 Transportation Plan than in the 2015 plan. As such it represents an important step in a continuum of TCRPC's continuing, cooperative, comprehensive and coordinated transportation planning process to incrementally move forward to implementing best practices in the area of land use and transportation planning on a regional basis. Details of the Regional Growth project are covered in Chapter 2. The TCRPC Regional 2025 Transportation Plan The primary function of this plan is to guide expenditures of transportation funds in the region. Projects that reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, enhance safety and support the Regional Growth vision are given priority. The plan identifies transportation system deficiencies and projects through the year 2025. In order to implement the proposed projects in the plan, they must be included in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) which identifies which projects will receive funding for a particular plan year. For projects to receive federal funding under TEA-21, each project must be in both the plan and the TIP. Relationship to State Long Range Plan The multi-modal State Long Range Plan (SLRP) provides a framework for investment in Michigan's transportation system through the year 2025. The plan emphasizes that investment in the transportation system must not only preserve it, but make sure it operates efficiently, effectively and safely. The plan notes that a balanced and robust transportation system enhances quality of life by providing access to a broader range of jobs, more options in housing, shopping, recreation and health care. It reduces the costs of production and distribution by allowing business better access to labor, raw materials, supplies and larger product markets. MDOT recognizes that effective transportation planning requires a partnership that involves federal, state, regional and local governments working together, that transportation providers at all levels will need to manage and operate the system effectively to reduce congestion and that (especially in urban areas) they need to work with each other, and the private sector to identify future funding. The above statements, taken from the Executive Summary of the State Long Range Planj. 2000-2025. are consistent with the goals of the TCRPC's Regional 2025 Transportation Plan. Our plan, like MDOT'S, also relies on partnerships between governments at all levels as well as the private sector to achieve the plan's goals. Decisions made at the regional 1-6 |
