The City-County Planning Division is presenting the Draft 2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) for the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to the Billings City Council for review and recommendation to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC). The TAC reviewed and recommended approval of the UPWP to City Council, Board of County Commissioners and Planning Board at its meeting on July 18. The UPWP is primarily for programming federal funds that Billings receives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for transportation planning and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for transit (MET) planning. These funds are passed through the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). All transportation planning activities are included in the UPWP to represent a comprehensive document for the urban transportation planning program. This UPWP proposes planning activities for Federal Fiscal Year 2025, running from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025, and corresponds directly with the Planning Division's annual work plan. Significant changes to this year's program include:

• Funding to maintain the Billings MPO Travel Demand Model, staff is anticipating that the ability to access the model in conjunction with the City of Billings Transportation System Study proposed will assist with review of proposed changes to road design and functionality;
• The review and modification of the 2023 Long Range Transportation Plan Project list and MPO Planning Boundary to comply with recent recommendations from FHWA;
• Update to the Mobile Trail Application;
• Completion of the transportation elements of the West End and Billings Heights Neighborhood Plans;
• The 21st Street Underpass Study (carry over from 2024);
• Bike Share RFP; and
• An update to the City of Billings Complete Streets Progress Report also in conjunction with the City of BillingsTransportation System Study.

The Transit section is Chapter II of the UPWP. The document is consistent with past programs in both content and format.

The local review of the UPWP each year involves public discussion sessions, work sessions, and regular business meetings of the City Council, Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners, and Yellowstone County Board of Planning (Planning Board). The Planning Board also conducts a legally advertised public hearing at one of its meetings to review the UPWP. The public can provide comments, ask questions at any of these meetings, as well as provide formal public testimony at the Planning Board.  

 

Approval of the 2025 UPWP allows the City to access federal funds for transportation planning in the community. Federal and local funds are combined to provide most of the planning work done by the Planning Division for the City and the County. If the UPWP is not approved, there would be a significant loss of resources for community planning, and the community's ability to manage transportation planning projects and programs would be severely limited.
The estimated breakdown of funding sources for the FY 2025 UPWP is as follows:
- $274,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (City of Billings)
- $170,000 Planning Dept. Fee Revenue (Yellowstone County)
- $642,650 Yellowstone County Planning Levy
- $1,121,534 Federal Planning (PL) Allocation

Total Local and Federal Program Funding (UPWP): $2,208,184  
 

Staff recommends that the City Council hear a presentation on the 2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). The Council at the August 12 meeting will take action on the UPWP and forward a recommendation to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) scheduled to meet on August 20, 2024.

Approval of the UPWP grants access to federal funds for transportation planning, combining federal and local funds to support most planning work. Without approval, community planning resources would be significantly reduced, limiting the management of transportation projects.