Rural Transportation Planning

The Federal Highway Administration provides State Planning and Research (SPR) funds to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to support transportation planning activities.  VDOT, through its Rural Transportation Planning Assistance Program, provides a portion of its SPR funds to Planning District Commissions to carry out transportation planning activities in rural areas.  In the program guidelines, rural areas are defined as those “outside the metropolitan study area boundaries approved by metropolitan planning organizations under Section 134 of Title 23, United States Code.”  Use of these funds by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) is identified in and guided by an annual scope of work, also referred to as a work program. The work program details the transportation planning activities to be carried out by the TJPDC under the Rural Transportation Planning Program in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Rural Transportation Planning Program functions as a cooperative forum for transportation planning among the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT), transportation service providers, and the counties of Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson and Albemarle.  While the Metropolitan Planning Organization has authority over the urbanized areas of Albemarle and the City of Charlottesville, the Rural Transportation Planning Program focuses on the region’s rural areas.  The TJPDC serves as the Policy Board for this program, with the Rural Technical Committee serving as the advisory body.

Rural Planning Roundtable
TJPDC launched the Rural Planning Roundtable as a special gathering of planners from the Planning District’s rural counties.  These roundtables give rural localities the opportunity to meet and share ideas, discussing topics that apply to their communities and best practices for meeting the challenges in their communities.  Discussion topics have included rural preservation, economic development, general planning tools, affordable housing and funding for transportation projects.

The Technical Committee
The Technical Committee, composed of individuals with working knowledge of transportation and land use, provides technical review, comment, and recommendations on transportation plans, programs, studies and other appropriate documents, and on regional transportation issues. The Committee integrates land use and environmental considerations into all of its activities, practicing a holistic approach to transportation planning. The Committee:

• determines the influence of current data upon the Rural Transportation Plan in relation to previous data and projected trends;
• cooperates in the development of procedures for the collection of traffic data;
• works with the staffs of the TJPDC and VDOT to review, comment, recommend, and assist VDOT, participating political jurisdictions, or the TJPDC on any proposal, alternatives, and work performed on the location and design of facilities in the Rural Transportation Plan; and
• serves in an advisory capacity to the TJPDC, the Policy Board for the Thomas Jefferson Rural Transportation Planning Program.

While the Fiscal Year Work Program guides the Committee’s work schedule, there are adopted by-laws that establish its procedural activities.  This document outlines the Committee’s purpose, voting membership and how meetings are generally conducted.

Greene County Multimodal Plan

Renaissance Planning Group, with consultation from TJPDC and Greene County staff, have completed the final draft of a multimodal transportation and land use plan for the US29 and US33 corridors in Greene County.  The report conducts a growth and land use trend analysis for the corridor and develops multiple scenarios for future conditions.  A preferred scenario was identified through input from a series of public workshops, including transportation recommendations such as street connectivity, access management, a parallel road network, a hierarchy of street types, and design guidelines.  The plan was presented in a Greene County public open house, as well as to the Board of Supervisors, in August of 2009.

Greene County Comprehensive Plan Update

TJPDC is working with Greene County staff, Planning Commission, and members of the public to update the County’s Comprehensive Plan.  The plan will include land use and transportation elements drawn from the concurrent Multimodal Corridor Plan.  Other sections include Economic Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Tourism, Water Supply and Wastewater, Education, Parks and Recreation, Community Services, and Solid Waste.  Each section will include data on the existing conditions, overarching goals for the future, and more specific implementation strategies for meeting these goals. The update has been revised through several rounds of public input and is expected to be in a finalized form by December 2009.

Louisa County Transportation Plan

The TJPDC partnered with Louisa County to develop its Transportation Plan, which will cover the entire County and briefly address the two towns of Louisa and Mineral.  The process for developing this plan will span several months, with the final draft tentatively scheduled for completion in early 2010.  This plan will help satisfy the County’s need for guidance on transportation related issues, assisting local staff and officials with decisions on general policy, development proposals and capital projects.  Staff is currently collecting data for the plan and drafting sections dealing with existing conditions of the County’s transportation system.  Above is a link to the THA Final report, which was a requirement of an $8,000 grant that the Transportation and Housing Alliance awarded to this project.  Refer to this report for further information on the County’s transportation plan and associated work schedule.

Rural Long Range Plan

The TJPDC is working with VDOT and their consultants, Parsons Transportation, to develop a Rural Long Range Plan for the region.  These efforts are part of a statewide initiative that is intended to create regional rural plans that compliment those in the metropolitan areas of the state.  Each regional plan has a 20-year planning horizon and is intended to address the anticipated effects of population and employment growth on an area’s transportation system.  A primary function of the RLRP is to coordinate state and regional transportation priorities to ensure that future resources are allocated accordingly.  While the RLRP lacks a fiscally constrained project list, it is intended to help identify priorities for funding.  These regional plans also feed into the State Highway Plan, which is a major component of the Statewide Multimodal Transp

Mineral Downtown Revitalization

The TJPDC is working with the Town of Mineral to help revitalize their downtown corridor.  In June 2009, staff completed work on a study that was funded with a grant from the Transportation and Housing Alliance (THA).  The primary purpose of the study was to assess the existing physical condition of Mineral Avenue, the central corridor of the Town, with particular attention paid to the needs of people with disabilities and others typically left out of the planning process.  The TJPDC and Town of Mineral have also received Community Development Block Grants for studies in this area that identify opportunities for revitalization.  Efforts are currently underway to obtain further funds for implementing the improvements recommended in these reports.

Rural Technical Committee

	Meeting Schedule

	Agendas and Minutes

	Committee Members

	By-Laws

	Fiscal Year Scope of Work

	Project Archives

	Rural Resource Links