# Transportation Policy Committee (TPC) - June 28, 2023 > Auto-transcribed civic record · June 28, 2023 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5856 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5856?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2023-06-28 - **Last revised**: June 28, 2023 - **Length**: 3,679 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Transportation Policy Committee (TPC) met on June 28, 2023, at 1:30 PM in the Lexington Fayette County Council Chambers, located at 200 East Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with David West presiding as the meeting officer. The committee addressed five agenda items during the session, focusing primarily on Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) policy matters and federal compliance requirements. The meeting resulted in one formal vote, with the committee approving Resolution 2023-14, which provides MPO support for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's (LFUCG) implementation grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All Program (SS4A). Four additional items were presented for informational purposes, including the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2024 MPO Title VI Plan (Resolution 2023-12), the adoption of a project selection process for MPO sub-allocated funding (Resolution 2023-13), a discussion regarding the federal certification review of the Lexington Area MPO with preliminary report findings, and a brief update on MPO area transportation studies. No public comments were heard during the meeting. The session primarily served to advance administrative and policy matters related to the region's transportation planning processes and federal compliance requirements, with most items presented for committee awareness rather than requiring formal action. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included one formal vote on a resolution supporting a federal grant application. **Resolution 2023-14** - MPO Support for LFUCG Implementation Grant Application to the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All Program (SS4A) was considered by the committee. This resolution expressed the Metropolitan Planning Organization's support for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's application for implementation funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All Program. The resolution **passed** by voice vote. No formal roll call was conducted, and no individual member votes were recorded. The motion and second were not specifically identified in the meeting record. The Safe Streets and Roads for All Program provides federal funding to help communities develop comprehensive safety action plans and implement projects designed to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The MPO's support resolution would strengthen LFUCG's grant application by demonstrating regional coordination and backing for the proposed safety improvements. ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed one significant financial matter related to infrastructure development. • **New Circle Road Project Grant**: The council discussed a total budget of $27,000,000 for the New Circle Road project, which is funded through grant money. No specific vendor or recipient details were provided in the available materials, and no resolution number was identified for this funding allocation. The substantial grant funding represents a major infrastructure investment, though additional details regarding the project scope, timeline, or specific grant source were not included in the extracted financial data from this meeting. ## Resolution 2023-12: Adoption of Fiscal Year 2024 MPO Title VI Plan The committee reviewed Resolution 2023-12 regarding the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2024 MPO Title VI Plan during agenda item 3.2. This resolution addressed the Metropolitan Planning Organization's compliance requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Title VI Plan is a federally mandated document that ensures the MPO's transportation planning processes do not discriminate based on race, color, or national origin. The plan outlines policies, procedures, and practices to guarantee equitable participation in transportation planning and programming decisions. The item was presented for informational purposes, allowing committee members to review the proposed plan's contents and framework. The Title VI Plan typically includes elements such as: • Non-discrimination policies and procedures • Public participation strategies for minority and low-income populations • Data collection and analysis methods for demographic assessment • Complaint procedures for addressing potential discrimination • Staff training requirements on civil rights compliance While specific speakers were not identified in the available records, the discussion would have covered the plan's compliance with federal requirements and its implementation strategies for the upcoming fiscal year. The MPO must update and adopt its Title VI Plan regularly to maintain federal funding eligibility for transportation projects. The committee treated this as an informational item, suggesting that formal adoption may occur at a subsequent meeting after members have had adequate time to review the plan's details. This approach allows for thorough consideration of the document's provisions and ensures proper compliance with federal civil rights requirements in the MPO's transportation planning activities. The Title VI Plan represents a critical component of the MPO's commitment to equitable transportation planning that serves all community members regardless of their demographic characteristics. ## Resolution 2023-13: Adoption of Project Selection Process for MPO Sub-Allocated Funding The committee reviewed Resolution 2023-13, which addresses the adoption of a project selection process for Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) sub-allocated funding. This agenda item was presented for informational purposes during the June 28, 2023 meeting. The resolution establishes a formal framework for how the MPO will evaluate and select projects that receive sub-allocated federal transportation funding. This process is designed to ensure that funding decisions are made through a structured, transparent methodology that aligns with federal requirements and regional transportation priorities. The discussion focused on the procedural aspects of implementing a standardized project selection process. This type of resolution typically outlines criteria for project evaluation, scoring methodologies, and the administrative steps required to move projects through the selection pipeline. The committee treated this item as informational, indicating that members were being briefed on the proposed project selection process rather than taking formal action. This suggests the resolution may have been in development or pending further review before final adoption. The establishment of a formal project selection process is a standard requirement for MPOs that receive federal sub-allocated funding. Such processes help ensure that transportation investments are made based on objective criteria such as safety improvements, congestion relief, economic impact, and alignment with regional transportation plans. No specific concerns or debate points were documented during this discussion, and no key speakers were identified in the meeting record. The informational nature of this agenda item suggests it was part of the committee's ongoing work to maintain compliance with federal transportation funding requirements and improve the transparency of project selection decisions. ## Resolution 2023-14: MPO Support for LFUCG Implementation Grant Application to the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All Program The committee considered Resolution 2023-14, which would provide Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) support for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's (LFUCG) grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All Program (SS4A). Several key speakers participated in the discussion of this agenda item. Council member Gray, Vice Mayor Wu, Mr. Wilson, and Council member Brown all contributed to the deliberations regarding the resolution. The Safe Streets and Roads for All Program is a federal initiative designed to help communities develop comprehensive safety action plans and implement projects that significantly reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries on roadways. The LFUCG's grant application would seek federal funding to advance local transportation safety initiatives. The resolution represents the MPO's formal endorsement of LFUCG's grant application, demonstrating regional coordination and support for transportation safety improvements. Such endorsements from metropolitan planning organizations are often valuable components of federal grant applications, as they show collaborative planning efforts and regional consensus on transportation priorities. Following discussion among the committee members, Resolution 2023-14 was approved. The approval provides the LFUCG with the MPO's official support as they pursue federal SS4A program funding for their transportation safety implementation projects. The successful passage of this resolution reflects the committee's commitment to supporting regional transportation safety initiatives and leveraging federal funding opportunities to improve roadway conditions and reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities in the Lexington-Fayette area. ## Discussion regarding Federal Certification Review of the Lexington Area MPO and Review of Preliminary Report and Findings The committee reviewed the federal certification review of the Lexington Area MPO and examined preliminary findings from the assessment. This agenda item 4.1 served as an informational discussion for committee members. Key speakers during this discussion included Nick Vail and Matt Smoker, who presented details about the certification review process and shared preliminary findings with the committee. The federal certification review is a required assessment that evaluates the MPO's compliance with federal transportation planning requirements and processes. The discussion focused on reviewing the preliminary report and findings from this certification process. This item was designated as informational, meaning the committee received updates and reviewed materials without taking formal action. The discussion provided committee members with an opportunity to understand the certification review results and their implications for the Lexington Area MPO's operations and planning processes. The outcome of this agenda item was informational, with no specific actions or decisions required from the committee at this time. ## MPO Area Transportation Studies – brief update The committee received informational updates on two ongoing transportation studies within the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) area during agenda item 4.2. The first study discussed was the East Lexington Trail Connectivity & Traffic Safety Study. This study focuses on improving trail connections and addressing safety concerns in the eastern portion of Lexington. The second study presented was the Northeast New Circle Rd Corridor Study. This study examines transportation issues and potential improvements along the Northeast New Circle Road corridor, a major arterial route in the area. Both studies represent ongoing efforts by the MPO to analyze and improve transportation infrastructure and safety within the region. The updates were provided for informational purposes to keep committee members informed of the progress on these transportation planning initiatives. No specific speakers were identified for this agenda item, and no formal action was taken by the committee. The item served as a brief status update on the MPO's current transportation study activities. --- ## Decisions - **Resolution 2023-14** — passed (0-0): MPO Support for LFUCG Implementation Grant Application to the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All Program (SS4A) --- ## Full transcript safety efforts. So these are efforts being made or that have been identified as a priority for local and county governments. We do have a deadline coming up July 10th for those for the submission of those applications but any implementation projects have to be identified as part of a local road safety action plan. And so what we're looking at from last year is that successful applications were probably in the $30 million range or less. So we do have a safety action plan that is now nearly complete, and we want to thank the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Highway Safety Improvement Program for helping us with that. That action plan is supposed to identify any regional challenges and problem areas for fatal and serious injury crashes, perform an analysis of those and look at historical trends for the region and identify specific safety needs and implementation strategies that would be particularly effective at reducing these types of crashes. And then I've already mentioned that we've done a lot of coordination here. In that plan, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, we still have a quorum. So in that action plan, a section of New Circle Road between New Town Pike and its Bryan Station Road, I apologize, we put Russell Cave Road in the blue sheet, so that's incorrect. Yes. But this section of New Circle Road came in as the second most problematic corridor for fatal and serious injury crashes within our region. So we also had a parallel process for our transportation and land use study that was being conducted for this section of New Circle Road as well, which included a lot of public outreach to identify not only what the data is suggesting is an issue. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. and we will have to take a pause because we have lost a quorum. We need nine. We need nine. Or wait. Nine or eight. But, okay. And we are good again. Thank you. Okay. Anyway, so it was noted through that process that there's a significant challenge with this corridor, but more importantly, that study also identified conceptually what the residents in that area desired to see, what the users of that facility desired to see, as well as those who worked along the corridor, what they felt this corridor ought to look like. And I apologize, this is very difficult to see on the screen here, but the New Circle Road study identified a number of strategies designed to make this a safer and more attractive corridor, while also trying to address some of the traffic flow concerns along the corridor as well. So what's come out of these two efforts is a recommendation to submit an application for this program which has a three pronged effort. First is the reconstruction of a section of New Circle Road between Boardwalk and Bryan Station Road. The reason we didn't go further is because we don't have enough funds in this program to really go much further. The second prong of this is a five-year public outreach campaign focused on driver behavior and the study identified several different behaviors that we could target that would be effective at helping us on this issue with fatal and serious injury crashes and then to fund a vision zero coordinator for five years. For the new circle reconstruction, the main concept is looking at installing several restricted crossing U-turns where feasible. Since this is still conceptual, the actual design phase would identify where it makes sense for that type of design and where it doesn't would probably identify maybe another concept. The advantage here is that through the RCUT design, we could potentially double or more than double the number of safe pedestrian crossings along the corridor. This also greatly simplifies the signal timing along the corridor. Instead of having a multi-phase signal, each of these new signals would be two-phased. We are making traffic flow a lot more efficient along the corridor as a result. Then we would have a shared use path along both sides for most of the corridor. We would have a connection to the legacy trail for this and on the outer loop of New Circle, the trail would continue all the way down to Bryan Station, whereas it would stop a little bit short of that on the inner loop. This kind of gives you a perspective of where some of these improvements are at least conceptually proposed. Now, let me mention that when we get into the design phase, there may be some changes to some of this. Total budget is a little over $27 million. The lion's chair of that is the reconstruction of New Circle Road. The safety education outreach campaign, about $1.75 million and then half a million for the Vision Zero coordinator. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is a very significant partner here and they are going to provide the lion's chair of the non-federal match for this application effort. It's just short to $4 million. The Lexington Valley and Urban County Government is proposing $1.45 million, a million of which would be for the New Circle project. Now, it's anticipated that the Transportation Cabinet will probably perform most, if not all, of the work elements for the reconstruction of New Circle Road. So what we're asking for you is to consider providing a resolution of support for this application that we can include and forward on to USDOT. Any questions? Councilmember Gray. It's merely just a comment. A lot of this is the first and sixth districts, which I'm representing both on this committee here. These areas have been highly major issues for our pedestrians on the walkway since we do not have sidewalks whatsoever, and we have a large population without transportation that crosses. New Circle Road, this right here will save lives in the end. And I'm looking forward to this project being, I guess, agreed upon by this committee and getting this work done so we can save some lives. Vice Mayor Wu? Thank you, Chair. Chris, can you tell me a little bit more about the Vision Zero coordinator and what their role would be? The primary goal is to look at the safety action plan, which has a lot of recommendations included in it, more than just New Circle Road and some systemic issues that we've got across the region. And we want to identify opportunities to implement these other projects and these other concepts that have been identified as part of that plan. The other part of this, their role would be to evaluate our performance annually. How are we doing in terms of reducing fatal and serious injury crashes since the policy committee has adopted a Vision Zero goal for 2050? So we want to be able to show that we're making progress towards that. That would be part of their job is to assess, are we making that progress? If not, what are the challenge areas? Do we need to be working on something different to help us get to that eventual goal of zero? Thank you. Apologies if this was in the slides deck and you went over it, but what's the time frame from beginning to end once we get this grant? So the grant requirements are that the funds have to be obligated within five years of award. Now it takes probably about a year maybe to get all the paperwork done. So we're probably looking at, for the final construction phase of this, having to begin within six years. To begin within six years? Right. And then once it begins, how long is the construction phase, would you say? Oh, I don't know if that's been conclusively determined yet, but a project of this size I would anticipate is probably a two to three year project. We're looking at best case scenarios eight years out-ish? I think that's actually a worst case scenario. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Other questions? Mr. Bolson? Can you tell us the contributing factors for this stretch as far as, Is it speed, alcohol, distracted drivers? Any data to support that? So speed is always a factor when you're talking about fatal and serious injury crashes. But also, we have a lot of mid-block crossings occurring because there aren't really a lot of places for pedestrians and bicyclists to get across this facility safely. And then, of course, we also have crashes occurring at our signalized intersections. And so one of the things about RCUD is to minimize those potential conflict points at those intersections, which has proven very successful across Kentucky at reducing those types of crashes. Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve Resolution 2314? We have a motion and a second. Any further questions? Council Member Brown. Thank you, Chair. Chris, so you picked the starting point and the end points based off of funding. If you had additional funding, where would the likely starting and stopping place be for this project? Starting at Boardwalk, would you go all the way to? So Boardwalk actually was determined because that is the effective transition point between the freeway section and the boulevard section or signalized section of New Circle Road. And then we just carried it as far as our resources we felt we could take, which ended up being Russell Cave. Not Russell Cave, Bryan Station. Why do I always, I've done, yeah, just something up here. Apologize for that. We'd like to take it, we'd just keep going past Bryan Station. And ideally, we'd like to get all the way to Winchester Road if possible. Okay, okay. Okay. The city's match, where would those funds come from? So I don't think that's been determined yet. I think that will probably be determined at the point an award is made. Okay. Okay. That's all the questions I have. Thank you. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, say aye. All those opposed? That passes. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. So the states match, so it hasn't been funded yet either. So that's a request we're going to make in the upcoming? Well, I think the state is working through their section to be able to make that commitment. Okay, so you think they have the funds? If the project is being submitted, yes. Okay. All right, thank you. Council Member Gray has a question, too. Thank you, Chair. Stand in. So when you all attended the council meeting and we made a vote, what were we voting on? I can't recall. You were actually voting on the urban county government to authorize the submission of this application. So today you're just submitting a resolution of support for that application. Thank you for the reminder. Thank you. Number four, information discussion. Item number one, discussion regarding federal certification review. All right. So I'm just going to introduce this. And every four years, MPOs the size of Lexington have to go through a formal process of review by the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure that we are complying with the various federal regulations associated with this program. And so we do have the, that review has been taking place this week. And yes, even though we're, actually I think we've determined that our quorum is eight. So we're still in a quorum, but we don't have any more action items, I don't believe. That's correct. So it's all for information and discussion. This is a discussion item, yes. Yes, but so we have been going through that review process this week and we do have representatives of the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration here to provide their initial findings of their review. And so I invite Nick Vale from the Federal Highway Administration to come up and present their report. Welcome. Yeah, if you want. Welcome, and could you give your names please? You bet. Good afternoon, I'm Matt Smoker with the Federal Highway Administration from the Office of Planning at headquarters in Washington, DC. It's my pleasure, and I'm Nick Vale with Federal Highways Kentucky Division. Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here today and be able to participate in the certification review. As Chris alluded to, we're required under federal law to do a planning certification review every four years for metropolitan planning organizations that have a urbanized population greater than 200,000 as deemed by the census. This is a robust review which conducted in various phases. The first phase is conducting a desk review, so we requested a whole bunch of planning studies and required documentation from the MPO that they made readily available to us. We documented the findings of those reviews in a desk review letter and prepared our agenda for the day and a half meetings that we just concluded earlier this afternoon where we focused in on some. Some topics we want to have more robust discussions on either to ensure that those federal requirements are being met or to get more information on some of those programs and studies that the MPO is doing an exceptional job on. someone to learn a little bit more about it, get some more background information to maybe take and replicate across the state or even through my office, maybe recognize in additional case studies to kind of spread best practices across the nation. Part of the planning process review, we look at documenting whether there's any corrective actions. Are there any requirements that are required by federal law and statute that aren't being made? If we find any of them, we call them a corrective action, and we identify them and then work with the MPO to develop a timeline on when to correct that deficiency. We also try to identify any recommendations. So it's planning processes and studies that the MPO is meeting all federal requirements from the spirit and intent of the law, but maybe some additional things that the MPO can consider. So they're considered to improve and further evolve the program and maybe more encompass something a little bit more robust, but they would be meeting the requirements. And then we certainly have cases where they're doing an outstanding job in coordination and studies, meeting the planning requirements, and we call them accommodations, and we'll recognize them when we do the final report. We just concluded a day and a half review. which included a tour of some of the larger projects and corridor studies that have been conducted by the MPO. And I'm going to turn it over to Nick to kind of give the preliminary findings of what we discussed over the last day and a half and what we found in the desk review phase. Thank you, Matt. So, yes, we want to thank Chris and all of his staff for all the time and effort they put into this, as well as all the planning partners, Lex Tran, the other transit providers in the region, KYTC staff as well. My FTA counterpart, Avianz Webb, she had to run to the airport to catch a flight back to Atlanta, but she leads the effort with federal highways. So as it relates to corrective actions, we did not find any corrective actions that need to be addressed. So that's always first and foremost. We do have a few recommendations. The timing of this review and the timing of when Lexington MPO is required to update their long-range plan coincides a little bit here. So in 2019, the MTP had just been passed. We had some recommendations for the next MTP, but that MTP isn't due until next year. So some of those recommendations are going to carry over as it relates to the congestion management process, freight planning, and environmental mitigation. We discussed all of those, and I think we're on the same page in terms of those carryover recommendations. Another recommendation will be just kind of amplifying the information that can be found on the website for the public's best interest. and then potentially having a kind of a one source interactive map of some sort for addressing all public comments that have been kind of entered at different planning studies phases and whatnot. In terms of the recommendations, we thought they were doing outstanding work as it relates to the complete streets policy and the work that's being done with the bike and pedestrian advisory committee. The limited English proficiency outreach is another one. The CMAC committee that meets in the analysis that is done to ensure that the region doesn't backslide as it relates to air quality. You guys are in a great place right now, and Chris and his staff are doing a great job to make sure that all measures are being taken into account to prevent going into a non-attainment status for air quality, whether that's ozone or PM 2.5. obviously days like this don't help. The project management committee is definitely something we also wanted to highlight and commend. I think it meets bi-monthly and tries to make sure as best as possible that projects are moving forward in a timely manner. We know there's all sorts of reasons why things don't move as smoothly as possible, but it's good to have that committee there to kind of monitor and guide that process. And then finally having that new member orientation that takes place every couple years after the election cycle is really important, but more so that that training is offered to those interested citizens and other stakeholders who may not be on the policy committee. So that's just our initial analysis. There'll be a couple months of work for the Federal Review Team staff, and I do want to acknowledge our team. Matt Smoker with Federal Highways Headquarters helped us out. Myself, this is my first one. I've been here with Federal Highways for about four months now, coming from the Louisville MPO. Tanya Higdon, who works with me at the Kentucky Division, and Kara Greathouse from the West Virginia Division, who kind of helped out as well. So I want to acknowledge all of them, and thanks for all the hard work from staff. And that's all we have. Thank you so much. Any questions from the committee? Yes, Director. Hello, not a question but a comment that I wanted to make. Thank you to your team for the work that you guys have done. Jill Barnett with Lex Tran here, but I mostly wanted to offer my congratulations to the NPO and the staff. They are a wonderful resource friend, partner to Lex Tran, and the team does a great job. I think they're probably often overlooked and underappreciated. And having gone through our own similar process every three years with the FTA triennial review, I understand the anxiety that comes with not knowing what you're going to ask for when you show up and the importance of having everything in order and pleased to hear a good review for the NPO. So thank you. Absolutely. Appreciate it. Any further questions? Don't hold them against that the chair is wearing a hat today. I was riding my bike and I had a helmet on, so it was either a hat or the helmet, so I went with the hat. I think my boss, John Ballantyne, would greatly appreciate you wearing a hat. Okay, thank you. Any others? I see none. We'll move on to the next item. Thank you. Number two, the NPO area transportation studies. Some brief updates. Number A, East Lexington Trail connectivity. All right, so we have two studies here that are wrapping up work. The first is the East Lexington Trail study. Just as a reminder, this is trying to make a connection from the IMAG center over to where the Bryden Rail Trail currently terminates to provide a connection from the southeastern portion of Fayette County up to the trails that interconnect at that location, which includes the Legacy Trail and the Town Branch Trail. They did come up, the consultants came up with two alignment alternatives for consideration, and the feedback we received was that the neighborhood alignment was considered a preferable alignment, but that at some point we may need to consider something that continues up Liberty Road and along Winchester Road just because there are important access destinations along there as well. And so this study identifies some concepts for consideration as part of a future design phase. And so that would be the next step of work. Any questions on A? Seeing none, we'll move to B. And we mentioned the New Circle Road study as part of our SS4A application. That work has wrapped up. The Planning Commission did conduct a public hearing on that and then voted unanimously to amend Imagine Lexington, the city's comprehensive plan, to incorporate that study and its recommendations into the comprehensive plan. And so you've already seen one of the implementation efforts that we're moving forward with, but it does provide a number of other recommendations along the corridor all the way down to Richmond Road as far as providing for better bicycle pedestrian access, better transit access, and to also address the traffic conditions along the corridor. and there's also a very robust land use component and land use recommendations associated with that as well. Both of these consultants, we have asked to come before you in August to give an overview of the study, since these are your dollars that funded those studies. Any questions? Seeing none, we'll move to item five, other business items. Questions, comments, or new business? Any from the committee? Seeing none, our next meeting date is Wednesday, August 23rd at 1.30 in the chambers here. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. We have a motion. Second. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.