At the March board meeting, the TPB approved 15 projects for Virginia Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program funding and also approved the FY 2025 TPB Unified Planning Work Program, and the FY 2025 Commuter Connections Work Program (CCWP). In addition, the board received a briefing on the Visualize 2050 National Capital Region Transportation Plan project inputs and draft air quality analysis scope of work. 

Meeting agenda, materials, and recording

Chair’s Remarks

Chair Christina Henderson’s remarks at the March meeting focused on the TPB’s upcoming charge to review the new list of projects that will be proposed for the Visualize 2050 National Capital Region Transportation Plan. Henderson noted that the TPB wanted to re-examine Visualize transportation projects in a way that would help the board and the region take greater strides toward achieving equity, sustainability, reliability, and safe transit provision to improve mobility and accessibility as well as help reduce greenhouse gases. This reexamination has been a way to determine whether proposed projects are still needed today and are they the best ways to achieve these goals.

Henderson commented that some project sponsor agencies did remove projects from the list while other agencies added projects. The TPB will review Visualize 2050 comments from the March comment period at its April meeting and approve the final project list in May.  

ACTION ITEMS

FY 2024 Unified Planning Work Program Amendment and Carryover and FY 2025 Unified Planning Work Program Approvals and FY 2025 Commuter Connections Work Program Approval

The TPB adopted resolutions approving all three of the above action items. The new work programs will begin July 1, 2024. Commuter Connections celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2024. In addition to the program’s ongoing commuter benefits and support activities, the anniversary celebration will include rebranding and expanded marketing of the region’s incenTrip app that offers rewards for commuters who plan their trip with the app.

For a full list of projects planned by both the TPB and Commuter Connections in FY 2025, visit the March TPB meeting page for memos and presentations.

FY 2025 - 2026 Virginia Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Project Approvals

The TPB approved 15 projects to receive funding for shared use paths, sidewalk connections, crosswalks, Safe Routes to Schools upgrades, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements. An additional project was funded with the support of the Commonwealth Transportation Board. As listed in the table below, funded projects are located in Alexandria, City of Fairfax, Fairfax County, Herndon, Lovettsville, Manassas Park, Prince William County, Purcellville, and Vienna. Selected projects prioritize Equity Emphasis Areas (EEAs), and access to the National Capital Trail Network.

Lean more and view the complete project list.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

Visualize 2050 Briefing

The TPB hosted a Visualize 2050 work session on March 21. A recording of the livestream is available on the work session page. The session was designed to provide board members and the public an opportunity to learn about work completed to date on the National Capital Region Transportation Plan update to date and to receive a status report on the March 2024 comment period.

Highlights of the briefing:

• The current Visualize 2045 plan includes approximately 200 projects, and 19 TPB member agencies have provided inputs to the process based on a reexamination of the plan’s projects. A summary of approximately 160 projects now exists The list includes a posted correction to the HOT lanes in Maryland that showed an error in some segments.
   
• An additional 30-day comment period will be held in spring 2025 with the aim to complete the plan to present for TPB approval in June 2025.

• The March 1-30, 2024, comment period focused on regionally significant roadway and transit projects that could affect air quality conformity. The Visualize 2050 air quality conformity scope of work was also available for comment in during the comment period. The project input table and scope of work are the two key documents the TPB will be asked to approve in May 2024 to move forward with the Visualize 2050 planning process.  

• The TPB will document all comments and questions received during the March 21 Visualize 2050 work session and make those comments publicly available.

Gary Erenrich, representing Montgomery County Department of Transportation, commented that the ability for Maryland DOT to clarify changes to the HOT lanes project at the April 17 TPB meeting would be beneficial for both TPB members and the public.    

City of Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton asked, “If the region is seeing potential cuts in mass transit that might cause more car trips, how will that be evaluated in terms of air quality goals?” Ashton noted that seeing potential cutbacks in transit and a potential focus on non-mass transit investments worries residents and environmentalists.    

In response to the Maryland comments and questions, TPB Staff Director Kanti Srikanth stated that the TPB staff will clarify the Maryland HOT lanes projects description and will provide time on the April 17 TPB board agenda for explanation of the Maryland project. In response to Ashton’s question, Srikanth commented that the TPB conducts an air quality conformity analysis with a 25-year horizon that entails what emissions in our region will be from the on-road sector. Results are then compared to a federally approved level. Srikanth explained that COG works in conjunction with state agencies to monitor air quality throughout the region by collecting data which is reviewed by EPA and certified. These certified data provide a more immediate assessment of air quality reflecting current travel patterns and services, and the regionally published  air quality index is based on the monitored readings.

Matthew Frumin, Ward 3 District of Columbia Council Member, noted that comments have been received from the public on the potential extension of HOT lanes on the Springfield to Woodrow Wilson Bridge segment of I-495 Southside Express Lanes project in Virginia. Frumin asked how potential conflict with a possible extension of the Blue Line will be taken into account.

In response to Frumin’s question, Maria Sinner, Northern Virginia DOT Assistant District Administrator for Planning and Investment, commented that VDOT is planning for the I-495 Southside project to not preclude future rail on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and when the bridge was built, it was envisioned to hold the weight of rail. Sinner stated that VDOT is monitoring and coordinating with WMATA on long-range plans for Metro’s Blue, Yellow, and Silver Lines; however, the current NEPA work on the project does not include rail. Sinner noted that does not preclude for rail to be included in the future. Fairfax County Supervisor and TPB Vice Chair James Walkinshaw remarked that robust dialogue about the I-495 Southside segment will continue because of questions received about the project in Northern Virginia.   

Committee Report Highlights

TPB Technical Committee, TPB Community Advisory Committee, TPB Access for All Advisory Committee, Steering Committee, and Director’s reports are available on the March TPB meeting page.

Steering Committee and Director’s Report 

Kanti Srikanth reported the following: 

• Transportation Improvement Program amendments were approved to add matching funds to the District of Columbia’s Galloway Street NE trail improvements and to add FTA Section 5307 funding and matching funds for the Virginia Railway Express’s Crossroad Yard Expansion project in Spotsylvania County. 
   
• TPB letters of support were prepared for the:
  • FY 2024 RAISE program application by Montgomery County for Project Connect: Accelerating Life Science at the North Bethesda Transit Oriented Development
  • FY 2024 RAISE program application by the Maryland Aviation Administration for the BWI Marshall Airport Multi-Modal Ground Transportation Center and Automated People Mover Planning Study
  • FY 2024 RAISE program application by Fairfax County for the Huntington transit-oriented development (TOD) Multi-Modal Station Project
• Upcoming Events:
  • Applications are being accepted for the TPB Community Leadership Institute which will be held April 25, 30, and May 2.
  • 2024 Bike to Work Day will be held on May 17. Learn more and register.
  • The Maryland Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program (TAP) application period is open April 1 – May 15. The program funds smaller-scale capital improvement projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities, trails, safe routes to school (SRTS) projects, For more information, see the MDOT website or contact John Swanson, TPB Planner, at jswanson@mwcog.org.

January and February 2024 Key TPB Items

In addition to the March TPB activities, the board took the following actions at its first quarter meetings.

TPB Bylaws and Planning Area Boundary Adjustment 

The TPB adopted a resolution approving an adjustment to the TPB membership to remove Fauquier County as a member of the Transportation Planning Board and to adjust corresponding MPO documents and maps. Fauquier County chose the action as the result of a 2020 census urban area boundary change that resulted in the county no longer being contiguous with Prince William County. See Item 7 on the February 2024 TPB meeting page.

National Capital Trail Network

On February 21, the TPB approved an update to the National Capital Trail Network (NCTN), which was established in 2020. The 2023 update extends the number of completed miles in the 1,549-mile bicycle and pedestrian network. Read more.

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