appendix G - Selection of New Projects
Project sponsors are required to complete the Project
Justification Package in Appendix I.
Information provided by the sponsors is used to determine if the
projects meet screening criteria and produce merit evaluations. Every project is required to meet all of the
screening requirements before progressing to merit evaluation. Those passing the screening test are categorized
according to type, following the general organization of the budget categories
in the New Visions Regional
Transportation Plan, namely:
Bridges
Pavement
Transit Support
Safety
Community
Compatibility/Economic Development
Congestion Relief
Bicycle and
Pedestrian
The projects are then evaluated for merit. The results of the merit evaluations are used
by CDTC to choose which projects receive funding.
The following are the screening criteria that must be
met for a project to advance to merit evaluations:
1. Consistency with TEA-21, and CDTC and local plans,
2. Provision of local matching funds,
3. Defined scope and timing
4. Meeting an identified need
5. Federal-aid eligibility
Regional Transportation Plan: Each proposed
project was required to be consistent with the RTP. The relevant RTP was the New Visions Regional Transportation Plan, was adopted in March
1997. New Visions includes a set of 25 Planning and Investment Principles
to guide capital programming, in addition to 10 strategies (with 43
implementing actions, long and short term).
Consistency with these principles and strategies was required to insure
that the New Visions implementation.
Major projects with system level impacts are not
considered for TIP programming unless they are a recommended action from New Visions or a sub-area or corridor
study. Some of these projects may be
further subject to a Major Investment Study (MIS) in order to progress towards
implementation.
All capacity increasing projects should be consistent
with the Congestion Management System (CMS).
CDTC has performed extensive analysis of existing congestion in the
Capital Region, as documented in CDTC's Metropolitan Congestion Management System: A
Structured Approach to Addressing Congestion Issues in Regional Transportation
Plan Development, Short-Range Programming and the Management System, which
was adopted by the CDTC in December of 1995.
CDTC's priority is to address existing congestion
problems, with projected future congestion being a lesser priority, subject to
a "risk analysis" (See New
Visions Congestion Management Principles for more information).
Boundary Compatibility: Each proposed
project is required to be consistent/complimentary with the facility (or
proposed facility) in the adjacent jurisdiction if the project is near or
crosses a jurisdictional boundary.
Land Use Linkage: Linear capacity improvements are
required to be linked to local land use management. To maximize the effectiveness of existing
facilities, a plan or commitment to access management, construction of new
local streets or provision of supplemental transit services must be in place
prior to major capacity work.
Public and Sponsor Support: All projects are
required to be consistent with community desires as documented in local land
use plans or other policy documents, at public meetings, or through other
applicable means.
Seven Planning Issues of TEA-21: ISTEA
established sixteen planning factors to be considered in the development of the
TIP. TEA-21 summarizes these into seven
planning issues. All projects were
required to address at least one of these factors, as listed below:
1. Support the economic vitality of the
2. Increase the safety and security of the transportation system for
motorized and nonmotorized users;
3. Increase the accessibility and mobility options available to people and
freight;
4. Promote and enhance the environment, promote energy conservation and
improve quality of life;
5. Enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system,
across and between modes, for people and freight;
6. Promote efficient system management and operation; and
7. Emphasize the preservation of the existing transportation system.
Project sponsors are required to be willing and able to
provide the local matching funds. All
fund sources are not required to be "in hand", but need to have a
"reasonable expectation" of being in place by the year of
programming. Specifically, the issue of
the provision of the required 20% local match share is required to be directly
addressed. Public/private financing
possibilities should be addressed, if applicable. Transit operators are required by FTA to
document financial capacity in the adopted TIP.
All facilities that require an ongoing operating budget to be useful are
required to demonstrate that such financial capacity exists.
All projects are required to be well defined. Project limits, the intended scope of work,
and the project concept needed to be clearly stated. Planning projects must have further defined
longer-range federally eligible projects.
Preliminary engineering and right-of-way are acceptable project phases,
provided that the other screening requirements have been met for the project as
a whole. Phases of larger construction
projects are requested to be usable segments that will provide benefit to the
traveler. Properly completing the
Project Justification Package will satisfy these criteria.
Phases programmed in the TIP must able to be implemented
by the end of the five-year programming period in that TIP.
All projects are required to be justified based on
meeting an identified transportation system need according to below
criteria.
Bridge projects are required to meet NYSDOT criteria
for a deficient bridge. This includes the
following two conditions:
1.
Condition Rating: The current Federal Sufficiency
rating must be less than "50.0", and either (B), (C), or (D) applies;
(B)
State Condition Rating must be less
than 3.5 by the year of programming, based on the current rating deteriorated
at a rate of 0.1 points per year from the date of last inspection to the year
of programming; or
(C)
Structure has one or more primary
(critical) structural features[1] rated "2" or less, based
on its last inspection, or
(D) The municipality can demonstrate
some deficiency not covered in (B) or (C), which makes major rehabilitation or
replacement mandatory within 5 years.
2.
Approach Work[2]: Approach work should not exceed 25% of the structure cost, or total
cost of structure. Approaches using
federal-aid should not exceed twice the cost if the project were done with
state or local funds.
Pavement Projects: Pavement projects are required to be
of a scope that is consistent with implementation with federal-aid funds. Because the pavement condition score does not
fully describe overall road conditions or substandard design features, pavement
score is not used as a screening criterion, although it plays an influential
role in project merit evaluation.
Mobility Projects: Mobility projects must address a
Level of Service of E or below, either under current conditions or projected
conditions in the year of programming, in order to be evaluated further.
Other Project Types: Other project types are based on the
project justifications provided by the project sponsor. Wherever possible, this justification
includes the results of existing management systems or other performance-based
standards.
All candidates must be eligible for either the STP or
CMAQ program. Eligible types of
projects are listed below.
¨
Highway
(limited access facilities)
·
Construction
·
Reconstruction
·
Resurfacing
·
Restoration
·
Operational
improvements
·
Safety
improvements and programs
·
Research and
development and technology transfers
¨
Bridges
·
Construction
·
Reconstruction,
including seismic retrofit
·
Resurfacing
·
Restoration
¨
Transit
·
Anything
eligible for FTA funding, including fixed guideways,
vehicles, maintenance facilities.
Federal regulations prohibit the use of STP funds for ongoing operating
expenses.
·
Safety
improvements and programs
·
Research and
development and technology transfers
¨
Streets and
Roads (conventional facilities), functionally classified as urban collectors or
above, or, in rural areas, minor collectors or above. All old FAU/FAS routes are grandfathered.
·
New signals
and signal timing
·
Restriping
·
Resurfacing
·
Bus turnouts
·
Construction
¨
Carpool
projects
¨
Park and
Ride lots
¨
Bicycle and
pedestrian projects
¨
Traffic
monitoring, management and control facilities and programs
·
Capital
·
Operating
¨
Planning
programs
¨
Enhancement
activities include the following. Note
that Enhancements must relate to surface transportation.
·
the
provision of facilities for pedestrians and bicycles,
·
acquisition
of scenic easements and scenic or historic sites,
·
scenic or
historic highway programs (including provision of tourist and welcome center
facilities),
·
landscaping
and other scenic beautification,
·
historic
preservation,
·
rehabilitation
and operation of historic transportation buildings, structures, facilities and
canals,
·
preservation
of abandoned railway corridors including the conversion and use thereof for
pedestrian or bicycle trails,
·
control and
removal of outdoor advertising,
·
archaeological
planning and research,
·
environmental
mitigation of water pollution due to highway runoff,
·
reduction of
vehicle-caused wild-life mortality while maintaining habitat connectivity,
·
provision of
safety or educational activities for pedestrian and bicyclists, and
·
establishment
of transportation museums.
¨
Transportation
Control Measures
¨
Development
and establishment of management systems
¨
Wetlands
mitigation
According to the TEA-21 and additional guidance made
available by the FHWA, eligibility for CMAQ funds is achieved by meeting any of
the following criteria:
¨
Projects in the adopted State
Implementation Plan (SIP): As a marginal nonattainment
area eligible for maintenance certification, the Capital District has no
projects listed in the current SIP.
¨
Specific Transportation Control
Measures (TCMs) listed in the Clean air Act Amendments
of 1990, Section 108:
(b)(1)(A)
(i)
programs for improved public transit;
(ii)
restriction of certain roads or lanes
to, or construction of such roads or lanes for use by, passenger buses or high
occupancy vehicles;
(iii)
employer-based transportation
management plans, including incentives;
(iv)
trip reduction ordinances;
(v)
traffic flow improvement programs that
achieve emission reductions;
(vi)
fringe and transportation corridor
parking facilities serving multiple occupancy vehicle programs or transit
service;
(vii)
programs to limit or restrict vehicle
use in downtown area or other areas of emission concentration particularly
during periods of peak use;
(viii)
programs for the provision of all
forms of high-occupancy, shared-ride services;
(ix)
programs to limit portions of road
surfaces or certain sections of the metropolitan area to the use of
non-motorized vehicles or pedestrian use, both as to time and place;
(x)
programs for secure bicycle storage
facilities and other facilities, including bicycle lanes, for the convenience
and protection of bicyclists, in both public and private areas;
(xi)
programs to control extended idling of
vehicles;
(xii)
programs to reduce motor vehicle
emissions, consistent with Title II, which are caused by extreme cold start
conditions;
(xiii)
employer-sponsored programs to permit
flexible work schedules;
(xiv)
programs and ordinances to facilitate
non-automobile travel, provision and utilization of mass transit, and to
generally reduce the need for single-occupant vehicle travel, as part of
transportation planning and development efforts of a locality, including
programs and ordinances applicable to new shopping centers, special events, and
other centers of vehicle activity;
(xv)