Pre-Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

Scope

In December of 2022, the Department of Commerce will release the list of newly designated Urbanized Areas (UZAs) in the Federal Register. All new UZAs will have to form a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) within one year from the date of the Federal Register notice. MPOs in these areas are required in order to receive federal transportation funding. After designation as an MPO, the MPO will have to review its metropolitan planning area boundaries every ten years after receipt of the new census data.

Following the 2020 census, the core of the Mat-Su’s Core Population will likely be designated as a Census Urbanized Area and will subsequently trigger the need for a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

Growth in the MSB has continued since the 2010 Census. According to estimates, the population of the Borough has grown from 88,995 to 97,882 in 2014 estimates. This is a growth rate of 10% while, by comparison, the state of Alaska’s population has grown by 3% during that same time period.

 

MPO Project Updates

 

Project Benefits

MPOs are formed to carry out the transportation planning process within a metropolitan area. The MPO is the policy board, designated by the Governor, and carries out a continuing, cooperative and comprehensive performance-based multimodal transportation planning process, including the development of a Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and a transportation improvement program (TIP). This process is done in cooperation with the State and public transportation operators and under the guidance of a robust public participation plan.

MPOs are responsible for ensuring that federal-aid transportation projects in the metropolitan area result from a continuing, comprehensive, and cooperative transportation planning process. To this end, a cooperative consultation process with the State is necessary in the development of the MPO. In addition, a consultation process is required with the State and other Alaska MPOs to determine funding levels for all affected MPOs. The objective of this contract is to lay out a blueprint for creating the Mat-Su Valley’s MPO. The blueprint will identify stakeholders, evaluate different organizational models, and recommend a path forward.