Public Meeting

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of Amendment #2 of the FFY2025-2029 TIP that includes various transit project fund reallocations and Amendment #1 of the FY2025 UPWP that will add development of a Regional Age- and Dementia-Friendly Plan.

February 19, 2025 – The FFY2025-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being amended in federal fiscal years (FFYs) 2025 and 2026 to program cost and timeline changes for various Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) projects. A bus purchase project will be added to FFY2025 and construction of the Wareham East Maintenance Facility is being pushed out to FFY2026. These modifications will lead to the proposed fund reallocation or downsizing of several projects, including GATRA’s parcel 6A solar project, purchase of support vehicles, rehabilitation of bus facilities, miscellaneous support equipment, and other vehicle replacements.

The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both GATRA and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $26 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

The region’s FFY2025 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is also being amended to include tasks for the development of a Regional Age- and Dementia-Friendly Plan. In the coming decades, no population in the Southeastern Massachusetts region is projected to experience as much growth as older adults over 65 years of age. SMMPO staff are responding to older adult needs identified in previous work and collaborating with various local partners to create a work plan of action items staff will take to support SMMPO communities toward creating physical and social environments that are inclusive and accessible for people of all ages, with a focus on helping older people live well. The focus will be on highlighting deficiencies and recommendations relating to older adult transportation and mobility infrastructure and will also draw connections to housing, food access, and open spaces. The UPWP identifies all the transportation planning activities to be undertaken by SMMPO staff in the SRPEDD region over the federal fiscal year. Planning activities include transportation studies, data collection, technical assistance to communities and other projects.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more equitable, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

A virtual public meeting on the proposed amendment will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through ZOOM. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

To register for the public meeting visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hx91n0GwSxiXAqHDUYZOyg

Meeting ID: 886 3799 3326

Meeting Password: 083246

Proposed FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #2 and FFY2025 UPWP Amendment #1 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for March 18th. For more information about the proposed amendment, visit SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: FFY2025-2029 TIP Amendment #1 and FFY2026 UPWP Amendment #2.

Comments are encouraged and may be offered by a variety of methods including: via e-mail at lestrela@srpedd.org; our website at https://srpedd.org/contact-us/; our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SRPEDD/ or Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS at https:// https://x.com/SRPEDD_NEWS.

The SMMPO, through SRPEDD, provides reasonable accommodations, including language assistance and/or auxiliary aids and services free of charge, upon request and as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact SRPEDD’s Title VI Coordinator by phone (508 824-1367), dial 711 to use MassRelay, or by email at aduarte@srpedd.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting.

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PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on the release of Amendment #1 of the FFY2025-2029 TIP that includes a Swansea project cost increase and addition of a New Bedford project.

January 21, 2025 – The FFY2025-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being amended in FFY2025 to program a cost increase and a new project. Project #608759 for traffic signal and safety improvements at three intersections on Swansea’s Route 6 will have a cost increase of $3,092,506, from $12,663,827 to $15,756,333 due to the extension of project limits (~400’), updated unit prices and higher utility relocation costs. Work on this project consists of intersection improvements at the following three intersections: Route 6/Route 118 (Swansea Mall Drive), Route 6/Maple Avenue, and Route 6/Route 136 (Market Street). Work includes traffic signal upgrades, geometric improvements, improved bicycle and pedestrian accessibility, signs, pavement markings, and/or geometric modifications. The intent of the project is to address safety at these three high crash locations. The FFY2025-2029 TIP will also program Project S13168 in FFY2025 which will include two demonstration projects in the city of New Bedford funded by a Safe Streets for All Discretionary grant of $237,266.

The TIP is the programming document listing all federally funded road and bridge projects in the region and all transit projects for both the Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) and the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) over five years. Each year, the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) decides how to allocate about $26 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

All of this work helps support the region’s 27 communities toward building a safer, and more equitable, connected, reliable, and resilient transportation system for all mode users.

A virtual public meeting on the proposed amendment will be held on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The meeting will be conducted through the ZOOM app. This link provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697.

To register for the public meeting visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b9V5xEuwRfCa-fj0aJ2xMA

Meeting ID: 814 7544 8552

Meeting Password: 420223

Proposed FFY25-29 TIP Amendment #1 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for February 18th. For more information about the proposed amendment, visit SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: FFY2025-2029 TIP Amendment #1.

PRESS RELEASE ‐ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a rescheduled Remote Public Meeting due to technical difficulties to hear comments on the SMMPO region’s list of transportation resilience projects to include in the Massachusetts Statewide Resilience Improvement Plan (RIP) and qualification for additional funding that is currently under a 21 day public comment period.

Flooding of the Wading River at Walker Street in Norton, Massachusetts, sandbags placed on roadway that has been severely flooded.

Flooding of the Wading River at Walker Street in Norton, Massachusetts (Photo by SRPEDD)

December 19, 2024 – Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) staff recently concluded Phase 1 of a regional evacuation route mapping study that collected information from 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities about local vulnerabilities, hazards, and existing evacuation protocols and resources relating to flooding, winter storms, wildfires, hazardous materials, and active threat events. The study will culminate in a Regional Evacuation Plan that will map regionally coordinated evacuation routes, document shared best practices and resources for the 27 communities, and recommend action steps to improve communication and egress in the event of an emergency. Phase 1 of the Evacuation Route Study identified various vulnerable locations, many of which are susceptible to flooding. SMMPO staff are seeking to include these 146 locations and potential projects in the MassDOT Resilience Improvement Plan (RIP) to qualify them for additional funding.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a round of Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation Program (PROTECT) grants. The purpose of this grant program is to support projects that improve the resilience of transportation infrastructure to withstand natural disasters and impacts of climate change, flooding, sea level rise, and extreme weather, and other natural disasters. The funding offers both planning and implementation grants to state, local and regional government bodies to focus on making roads, bridges, and transit systems more climate resistant. Grants can range from $100,000 to $5 million for planning projects and $5 million to $25,000,000 for implementation projects. Recipients are required to fund 20% of project costs, while FHWA funds 80%. However, including the project in a statewide resilience improvement plan reduces the local match requirement to 13% and eliminates the requirement to conduct an elaborate benefit-cost analysis. SMMPO staff are aiming to include 146 potential projects in the MassDOT statewide Resilience Improvement Plan to make this funding more accessible to local communities should they wish to apply.

This list was prepared using locations identified in the regional Evacuation Route Study, Regional Transportation Plan, a GIS vulnerability analysis, and review of communities’ Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plans. It is being released to local officials and public review in order to gather feedback regarding if listed locations are appropriate and whether any are missing. Following the public comment period, locations will be voted on for approval by the SMMPO and later evaluated by MassDOT for final inclusion in the statewide RIP. SMMPO staff are available to assist with grant applications and encourage municipal officials to notify the agency if they plan to apply.

The SMMPO decides how to allocate about $26 million in federal funding for the region, which supplements state and local transportation infrastructure investments in Southeastern Massachusetts. The SMMPO conducts the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for 27 Southeastern Massachusetts communities and is one of Massachusetts’ thirteen Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

The rescheduled public meeting to hear comments on the SMMPO’s resilience projects list will be held remotely on Tuesday January 21, 2025 at 10:30 AM via Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer feedback. This link https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697 provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone. To register for the meeting visit:

The list will become final on January 21, 2025, at the next SMMPO meeting. The draft list can be found on SRPEDD’s website at https://srpedd.org/transportation/srpedd-evacuation-route-plan/ for review. Link here: DRAFT SMMPO Transportation Resilience Projects List.

Comments and questions are encouraged and, if attendance at the above‐mentioned public meeting is not possible, may be offered by a variety of methods by January 20, 2025 including:

Email Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org or call 508-824-1367 x230;

Direct message or comment on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SRPEDD; or

Direct message or Tweet to Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS https://twitter.com/SRPEDD_NEWS?lang=en

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PUBLIC INPUT OPPORTUNITY
Come share your views about the transportation planning process in the Southeastern Massachusetts region!
Every four years, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are required to review the metropolitan transportation planning process conducted by the Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA), Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) area providers of public transportation, and local municipal partners in order to certify that they are carrying out the process in accordance with all applicable Federal requirements.

As part of this review, the Federal agencies would like to hear from members of the public and community partners about their views of how the transportation planning process is conducted in the region during these sessions:

Session 1: Virtual Session
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025
Location: This meeting will be held virtually on Zoom.
Join via Zoom at this meeting link or using Meeting ID: 161 359 4197, Passcode: 871311.
To join the meeting by phone, dial +1 (646) 828-7666.

Session 2: Virtual Session
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025
Location: This meeting will be held virtually on Zoom.
Join via Zoom at this meeting link or using Meeting ID: 160 901 5027, Passcode: 142061.
To join the meeting by phone, dial +1 (646) 828-7666.

Session 3: Virtual Evening Session
Time: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025
Location: This meeting will be held virtually on Zoom.
Join via Zoom at this meeting link or using Meeting ID: 160 321 4724, Passcode: 544547.
To join the meeting by phone, dial +1 (646) 828-7666.

If you are unable to attend, you may also submit your comments or observations in writing by January 28, 2025, to:
FHWA: Eric Gemperline, Community Planner
Email: eric.gemperline@dot.gov

FTA: Kirstie Tirandazi
Email: kirstie.tirandazi@dot.gov

This meeting is accessible to people with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. Accessibility accommodations and language services will be provided free of charge, upon request, as available. Please contact Eric Gemperline at Eric.Gemperline@dot.gov for more information.

If you are unable to attend, you may also submit your comments or observations in writing by January 28, 2025, to:
FHWA: Eric Gemperline, Community Planner
Email: eric.gemperline@dot.gov

FTA: Kirstie Tirandazi
Email: kirstie.tirandazi@dot.gov

If you are unable to attend, you may also submit your comments or observations in writing by January 28, 2025, to:
FHWA: Eric Gemperline, Community Planner
Email: eric.gemperline@dot.gov

FTA: Kirstie Tirandazi
Email: kirstie.tirandazi@dot.gov

PRESS RELEASE ‐ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21‐day Public Comment Period and a Remote Public Meeting to hear comments on the SMMPO region’s list of transportation resilience projects to include in the Massachusetts Statewide Resilience Improvement Plan (RIP) and qualification for additional funding.

Flooding of the Wading River at Walker Street in Norton, Massachusetts (Photo by SRPEDD)

A public meeting to hear comments on the SMMPO’s resilience projects list will be held remotely on Wednesday January 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM via Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer feedback. This link https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697 provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone. To register for the meeting visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BKM4QXHwQD-Z-lJ7SChHhw

Comments and questions are encouraged and, if attendance at the above‐mentioned public meeting is not possible, may be offered by a variety of methods by January 20, 2025 including:

Email Jackie Jones at jjones@srpedd.org or call 508-824-1367 x230;

Direct message or comment on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SRPEDD; or

Direct message or Tweet to Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS https://twitter.com/SRPEDD_NEWS?lang=en

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PRESS RELEASE ‐ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21‐day Public Comment Period and a Remote Public Meeting to hear comments for the draft Regional Pedestrian Plan.

September 18, 2024 – Southeastern Massachusetts’ draft 2024 Regional Pedestrian Plan (RPP) is being released for public comment. The RPP documents current pedestrian needs, existing conditions, priority areas for walkability improvements, and action steps for achieving more walkable communities in Southeastern MA. The updated RPP presents a comprehensive vision for improving walkability across Southeastern Massachusetts, recognizing that pedestrian improvements are key to fostering vibrant, healthy, inclusive, and economically thriving communities.

SMMPO staff engaged the public through various activities, including a public survey, tabling at various community events, canvassing in neighborhoods, focus groups, social media posts, and meetings with vulnerable road user advocacy groups and community organizations. The plan’s public survey was one of the agency’s best performing to date, with over 1400 survey responses from across the region. Public input received informed staff about public priorities for walkability, diverse pedestrian issues and goals across the SMMPO region’s distinct communities and helped ensure that this Plan’s action items reflect the needs of the region’s diverse populations and landscapes. Core themes of public input included the need for improved safety, connectivity, and travel experience. Residents raised concerns about lack of well-maintained sidewalks and safe crossings, debris, and crime limiting walkability, and voiced a desire for pedestrian access to shopping centers, schools, recreational/green space areas, transit , and on state roads such as Route 1, 6, 18, 44, 58, 123. Many respondents across the region’s urban, suburban, and rural communities identify that a town center is a major asset yet feel unsafe and unable to access their city or town center from where they live as pedestrians.

The Plan highlights 15 action items in response to public input and dialogue with municipal and state partners that SMMPO staff will work towards to help improve walkability in the region including: build a queue of Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety projects for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Supplemental Project List, identify and fill high priority gaps in the regional sidewalk and path network, align land use and transit planning activities to emphasize more walkable community design standards and improved connectivity to transit routes and stations, continue to improve and expand the SRPEDD Trails Program, and collaborate with MassDOT and municipalities to address a backlog of pedestrian facility maintenance needs.

A public meeting to hear comments on the draft RPP plan will be held remotely on Wednesday October 9 at 4:00 PM via Zoom. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer feedback. This link https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697 provides the information to allow participants to connect to the meeting through a computer, smart phone or regular telephone. This is the direct link to the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82654827403?pwd=Go7Ea0qRcGKPTzubH6vZ0qKpadUFl3.1

The draft RPP plan will become final on October 15, 2024, at the next Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (SMMPO) meeting. The draft plan can be found on SRPEDD’s website at www.srpedd.org/rpp for review. Link here: DRAFT Regional Pedestrian Plan.

Comments are encouraged and, if attendance at the above‐mentioned public meeting is not possible, may be offered by a variety of methods including:

E‐mail jgray@srpedd.org for Regional Pedestrian Plan-related questions;

Direct message or comment on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SRPEDD; or

Direct message or Tweet to Twitter @SRPEDD_NEWS https://twitter.com/SRPEDD_NEWS?lang=en

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PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lisa Estrela-Pedro at lestrela@srpedd.org for more info.

SRPEDD Announces a 21-day Public Comment Period and Virtual Public Meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 4:00 pm to hear comments on proposed Amendment #8 of the FFY2024-2028 TIP that includes funding for public transportation vehicles, cost changes for GATRA and SRTA projects, addition of a Fairhaven Steamship Authority project, and cost increase for Taunton Route 138 project.

June 18, 2024 – The FFY2024-2028 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Southeastern Massachusetts is being amended to include funding for public transportation vehicles, cost changes for GATRA and SRTA projects, addition of a Fairhaven Steamship Authority project, and cost increase for Taunton’s Broadway Route 138 Project 608753. Several programs and municipalities in the Southeastern MA region were awarded funding from the state’s Community Transit Grant Program in May 2024 to purchase vehicles for public transportation needs. They include The City of Fall River, Town of Dartmouth, Family Service Association of Greater Fall River, M.O.L.I.F.E, Inc, Town of Rochester, the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) and Greater Attleboro and Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA). New Bedford’s Steamship Authority Project S12999 SSA totaling $1,482,563, will be programmed in year 2024 of the FFY24-28 TIP for the purchase of support vehicles and equipment for the Fairhaven Maintenance Department. Taunton’s Corridor Improvements and Related Work on Broadway (Route 138) Project 608753 from Purchase Street to Jackson Street Phase 2 will have a $4.9 million cost increase due to the increasing costs of materials.

A virtual public meeting on the proposed amendment will be held on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend, ask questions and offer comments, but attendance is not necessary to offer input or comment. More options to offer comments can be found below.

The direct link to the public meeting is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82319981101?pwd=zBGJAwAa6Y9AiBlIaL1DBkPkT2b8Y3.1

Draft FFY2024-28 TIP Amendment #8 will have a 21-day public comment period and will be endorsed at the next SMMPO meeting which is scheduled for July 16th. For more information about the proposed amendment, visit SRPEDD’s website www.srpedd.org at the following link: FFY2024-2028 TIP Amendment #8.

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