Monday, December 17, 2007
Group planning for road needs
Meetings this week looked at the financial constraints on locally sponsored transportation projects like Frederick Road and the downtown streetscape in Opelika, as well as the widening of Moores Mill bridge over I-85, the realignment of Highway 14 and Bragg Avenue and numerous bike lanes in Auburn.
September 13, 2007
Meetings this week looked at the financial constraints on locally sponsored transportation projects like Frederick Road and the downtown streetscape in Opelika, as well as the widening of Moores Mill bridge over I-85, the realignment of Highway 14 and Bragg Avenue and numerous bike lanes in Auburn.
In a series of meetings, committees of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Planning Organization (AOMPO) reviewed, and approved, key changes in surface transportation planning that reflect project changes brought on by increases in construction costs.
The Citizens Advisory Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee met Tuesday and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Board met Wednesday at the Lee-Russell Council of Governments office in Opelika to consider the Fiscal Year 2008 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), the 2008-2011 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), and seven Fiscal Year 2008 Transportation Enhancement Grants.
The MPO helps communities with local projects.
“Federal funding regulations require that communities having a population over 50,000 be designated as a metropolitan planning area. When that happens, you have to establish a metropolitan planning organization,” said Keith Bryan, transportation planner and GIS coordinator with the Lee-Russell Council of Governments. “Their job is to review local projects within that area.”
Bryan said the UPWP is an annual document which is a listing of the current year’s project. The TIP is a multi-year document that is a planning document for projects. The long-range transportation plan is a 25-year plan.
A goal of all three is to have a viable transportation system, and a way to plan and make sure transportation needs are addressed.
The cities of Auburn and Opelika and Lee County were assisted by LRCOG in developing the UPWP, TIP and enhancement grant documents for approval by all three AOMPO committees. There are 15 individuals on the CAC, 25 on the TAC and 10 on the MPO committees.
Among the resolutions approved for applications for Transportation Enhancement Grant funds were one for the city of Opelika and six for the city of Auburn.
The Opelika resolution includes additional sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, brickpavers, etc. in Phase III of the Downtown Streetscape’s Phases I and II.
The six Auburn resolutions includes three bike lanes, interstate exit landscaping and a multi-use path as follows:
- The Shelton Mill Bike Lane involves constructing bike lanes on both sides of Shelton Mill Road from North College Street to East University Drive;
- The North Donahue Drive Bike Lane involves constructing a six-foot bike lane along each side of North Donahue Drive between Shug Jordan Parkway and Farmville Road. Part of this project is in Lee County;
- The Wire Road Bike Lanes involves construction of six-foot wide bike lanes along each side of Wire Road between Webster Road and Samford Avenue to connect student residential areas with the Auburn University campus;
- The East Glenn Avenue Multi-use Path involves construction of a concrete multi-use path along East Glenn Avenue between Bent Creek Road and East University Drive. One intent of this path is to provide connectivity to the city of Opelika; and
- Two resolutions involve the addition of multiple species of trees, shrubs and other plantings to improve the aesthetics of Interstate-85 interchanges at a new seven-lane bridge at Exit 51 and a new six-lane bridge at Exit 57.
Keeping the funding balanced causes some projects to be moved out to be considered in future years. Changes are worked out among the cities and their engineers before being presented to the committees.
Examples of increases in project construction costs include:
- A 463 percent increase in the utility portion of the Moore’s Mill Bridge overpass project going from $62,400 to $364,000 in 2008 and a 333 percent increase in the construction portion going from $1,092,000 to $4,724,429 which caused the project to be moved from 2008 out to 2010.
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