Consent 1.H.
Regular City Council Meeting
- Meeting Date:
- 05/09/2016
- TITLE
- 2015-2019 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment III
- PRESENTED BY:
- Candi Millar
- Department:
- Planning & Community Services
Presentation:
PROBLEM/ISSUE STATEMENT
Federal regulations require that the Billings Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) review and update its Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) periodically. Given some funding adjustments with several transportation projects, the current Billings 2015-2019 TIP must be amended to maintain compliance with State and Federal requirements.
The TIP is a short-range program of highway and transit projects in the Billings MPO area and is prepared by City-County Planning Division staff in cooperation with state and local agencies. The purpose of the TIP is to provide the mechanism for scheduling federal funds for surface transportation projects, indicate regional priorities, and demonstrate a short range transportation vision for the area. A secondary purpose of the TIP is to provide information about other transportation projects in the urbanized area that are exempt from the TIP approval process, such as projects that do not utilize federal funds.
This TIP amendment is being presented to the City Council for review due to cost updates to several projects. The projects listed in the TIP that have updates for cost increases include, but are not limited to: 1st Avenue South, Zimmerman Trail, the North Bypass, and several safety projects. Staff has attached the document for reference. The City Council is being asked to review the TIP amendments at this meeting and provide the City Council's designee direction for the Policy Coordinating Committee meeting on May 17, 2016.
The TIP is a short-range program of highway and transit projects in the Billings MPO area and is prepared by City-County Planning Division staff in cooperation with state and local agencies. The purpose of the TIP is to provide the mechanism for scheduling federal funds for surface transportation projects, indicate regional priorities, and demonstrate a short range transportation vision for the area. A secondary purpose of the TIP is to provide information about other transportation projects in the urbanized area that are exempt from the TIP approval process, such as projects that do not utilize federal funds.
This TIP amendment is being presented to the City Council for review due to cost updates to several projects. The projects listed in the TIP that have updates for cost increases include, but are not limited to: 1st Avenue South, Zimmerman Trail, the North Bypass, and several safety projects. Staff has attached the document for reference. The City Council is being asked to review the TIP amendments at this meeting and provide the City Council's designee direction for the Policy Coordinating Committee meeting on May 17, 2016.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYZED
The current TIP includes updates of federal funding for several projects in the Billings area. The City Council may:
- Recommend approval to the Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) of the 2015-2019 TIP Amendment III as drafted in order to continue the implementation of federally funded transportation projects in the community.
- Recommend modifications to the proposed 2015-2019 TIP Amendment III and present these recommendations to the Policy Coordinating Committee for further consideration.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
A range of federal funding sources is available to the Billings Urban Area for the purposes of funding transportation system improvements. A list of those sources is shown in the attached TIP. There is usually no direct impact to City or County funds in budgeting for these projects given the federal funding sources.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council review the 2015-2019 TIP Amendment III and forward a recommendation of approval to PCC through its designee. The PCC is scheduled to meet on May 17, 2016 for action on this item.