Mercer County
Transportation Planning
Unified Work Program
SHENANGO VALLEY
AREA TRANSPORTATION STUDY
Fiscal Year 2016-2018 Unified Planning Work Program
Click here for
the full 2016-2018 Unified Planning Work Program. (.PDF
file)
Introduction
The Unified Planning Work Program
establishes an outline of work tasks to be undertaken by the Shenango Valley
Area Transportation Study (SVATS) during the 2014-2060 Fiscal Year.
The SVATS Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO) has the responsibility to plan and program transportation projects
receiving federal funding for all of
Mercer
County.
The SVATS MPO has undertaken this duty since
it’s inception in 1981.
One Rural Planning Organization
(RPO), one Pennsylvania MPO, and one MPO serving the
Youngstown,
Ohio
area border the SVATS MPO.
Due to changes in the
urbanized area of the MPO,
Mercer
County
has been combined with the
Youngstown
area.
With this change it became necessary to develop
a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU), which outlines the working
relationship between the two MPOs.
The SVATS MPO adopted the MOU on January 31,
2003.
Long Range Plan
In order to undertake the transportation planning process in
Mercer
County, a Long Range Plan
(LRP) was developed. The original
plan was adopted by the SVATS MPO in November of 1994, with amendments being
made in 1997. A newly approved LRP
was adopted by the MPO and the Mercer County Commissioners as part of the County Comprehensive
plan in April of 2006. The LRP
provides information necessary to the planning and programming process.
Information contained in the LRP includes data on such items as
population, land use, existing facilities, planning factors, 25-year project
listing, and congestion/intermodal management issues.
Because Mercer County
has been redesignated as a non-attainment county for Air Quality, we will
once again be required to update our LRP on a three-year cycle.
The LRP provides a closer look at the major corridors within the
County and is modeled after the statewide plan.
As changes occur in the future to the TIP they will be reflected and
reviewed for consistency with the comprehensive plan
TEA-21 & Clean Air Act Amendments
What is contained in the LRP is based on two federal laws, the 1998
Transportation Equity Act for 21st
Century (TEA-21) and the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990.
All transportation related planning in Mercer
County
is based on these two laws.
In addition to the requirements of having a LRP,
the SVATS MPO also produces a local Transportation Improvement Program
(TIP), which contains the short range listing of transportation improvements
for the County.
The CAAA establishes a program and sets a timetable for improving the
nation’s air quality. Mercer County
currently classified as a “basic” ozone non-attainment area.
MPO Committees & Responsibilities
The SVATS MPO is a federally mandated organization
responsible for transportation related issues in Mercer
County.
Professional staff members of the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission
(MCRPC) run the daily business of the MPO. PennDOT District 1-0 and Central
Office staffs work with the MCRPC staff on a regular basis and are
intimately involved with the programming of funds and the implementation of
projects.
The SVATS MPO consists of two
committees. The larger of the two committees is the Coordinating Committee.
This group is responsible for insuring the maintenance of planning
eligibility for state and federal grants and the maintenance of both the
Long-Range Plan (LRP) and the more short-range Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP). This committee meets on at least a quarterly basis to vote on
any action items that come before the MPO and to discuss
transportation-related issues in
Mercer
County.
During 2000, the Coordinating Committee grew by four communities, and two
more communities joined in 2008. As a result, the MPO now has 25 members,
the maximum currently allowed according to MPO Bylaws.
The SVATS MPO continues to promote equal
representation throughout the County.
The Coordinating Committee is made up of twenty-five voting members as
listed below:
|
City of
Farrell
|
Borough of
Wheatland
|
Springfield
Township
|
|
City of
Hermitage
|
Findley
Township
|
Wilmington
Township
|
|
City of
Sharon
|
Hempfield
Township
|
Wolf
Creek Township
|
|
Borough of
Clark
|
Jefferson
Township
|
Mercer
County
|
|
Borough of
Greenville
|
Liberty
Township
|
Mercer
County
Regional COG
|
|
Borough of
Grove City
|
Pine
Township
|
PennDOT District
1-0
|
|
Borough of
Mercer
|
Pymatuning
Township
|
PennDOT Central
Office
|
|
Borough of
Sharpsville
|
Shenango
Township
|
|
|
Borough of W.
Middlesex
|
S.
Pymatuning Township
|
|
The other MPO committee is the
Technical Committee, which has the duty to study and report on technical
aspects as directed by the Coordinating Committee and to initiate studies
and recommendations on technical aspects in pursuance of the objectives of
the UPWP. This committee meets on an as-needed basis and has been
historically less-active than the Coordinating Committee.
The Technical Committee is comprised of the following twelve members:
|
City of
Farrell
|
MCRPC (2 votes)
|
Mercer
County
Regional COG
|
|
City of
Hermitage
|
Township
Association(2 votes)
|
PennDOT District
1-0
|
|
City of
Sharon
|
Boroughs Association (2 votes)
|
PennDOT Central
Office
|
|
|
|
|
The SVATS MPO also works closely with the major transit providers for the
County—Shenango Valley Shuttle Service (SVSS) and Mercer County Community
Transit (MCCT). The SVSS runs several
routes providing fixed route service to the Shenango Valley.
The MCCT provides on demand service to all areas of
Mercer County
Update: March 3, 2016
2Mercer
County Regional Planning Commission
2491 Highland Road, Hermitage, PA 16148
mail@mcrpc.com www.mcrpc.com
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