The Regional Transportation Plan 2007-2035

        Get Involved!         Participate!

PPACG is encouraging citizens to be a part of the Regional Transportation Plan development process. Citizens can select one or more of the following options to be involved in the decision making process: 

• Take part in public meetings occurring throughout the Plan development process.
• Attend and give input at PPACG advisory committee meetings.
• Participate in workshops.
• Visit the Regional Transportation Plan webpage on PPACG’s website, www.ppacg.org, which provides access to the latest plan information.
• Email your thoughts and ideas regarding the transportation system to PPACG’s transportation planners at mfrye@ppacg.org.
• Sign up for the mailing list to receive meeting announcements and newsletters by email or regular mail.  

Call Mary Frye at PPACG, (719) 471-7080, extension 110, or email mfrye@ppacg.org to get more information on how you can be involved. 

Current Public Meetings: 

 What’s Going On?

The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) is beginning the process of updating the Region’s Transportation Plan. The yearlong effort will involve citizens in preparing a blueprint for the Region’s transportation system through the year 2035. The Regional Transportation Plan will establish priorities for all modes of travel in the urbanized area of the Pikes Peak Region.  Among issues to be addressed are:

• Safety for all modes of transportation
• Metro Transit/Metro Mobility bus systems
• Freight movement/truck routes
• Corridor preservation
• Mobility and accessibility throughout the region for all of its citizens
• Revenue resources for funding improvements
• Transportation for persons with disabilities and older persons 
• Impacts of population and job growth on the transportation system
• Increasing efficiency of the existing transportation system and managing congestion
• Maintenance of the existing system
• Access to the airport

Modes of transportation to be examined include:

• Non-motorized (bicycle and pedestrian) facilities
• Rail systems
• New roadways and freeways
• Public transportation, including human services transportation
• Intelligent transportation system (ITS) projects – advanced communication technologies to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion

Why is the Regional Transportation Plan Needed?

As a condition for receiving Federal funds to implement transportation system projects in the Pikes Peak Region, a plan addressing a minimum period of twenty years that includes long- and short-range strategies must be prepared.  In October 2004, the Region approved its latest regional transportation plan, the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan.   Federal and state transportation planning rules require that the plan be updated by October 2007. 

Who is Involved? 

The metropolitan area that includes the urbanized portion of the Pikes Peak Region, including the western half of El Paso County and the Woodland Park area of Teller County, comprises the planning area considered in the Regional Transportation Plan.   Elected officials and technical staff of county, city, and town governments within that area, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado Department of Health, military bases, and community members all participate in the metropolitan planning process.   Figure 1 is a map showing the location of the PPACG’s metropolitan planning area.
 

How Will the Public be Involved?

Public involvement will be interwoven throughout the plan development process. A public participation plan is being prepared that describes the various methods PPACG will employ to encourage and facilitate citizen involvement in the Regional Transportation Plan development process.   PPACG’s website, www.ppacg.org, will provide access to the latest plan information, including 2035 Plan schedules, public meeting information, transportation facts, figures, maps and other tools to help citizens get involved in the Regional Transportation Plan development process.  Website visitors can also sign up to receive information via email or to have information mailed to their home or business address.    

Public meetings, focus groups, and workshops are being planned to bring citizens and planners together to talk about the various components of plan development. PPACG’s advisory committees, which are comprised of both citizens and technical personnel, will contribute in-depth input and ongoing support for plan development activities. 

 What’s Happening Now?

The plan development process is now focused on preparing the planning framework.  The term “planning framework” is used here to refer to the planning steps that articulate what the Region is striving to achieve through the long-range transportation planning effort.  The planning framework establishes the foundation and basis to focus data gathering efforts, shape alternatives to be considered, and select the best options for future implementation of projects using the limited funds available.  The planning framework defines: 

• Desired outcome that focuses planning efforts – the Vision for the transportation system.
• Direction that provides guidance on how we will move forward to achieve the desired outcomes – the Mission of those involved in this planning effort.
• Standards that describe the integrated multi-modal transportation system we are striving to achieve—the Principles to guide our work.
• Specific Objectives to be accomplished to achieve those standards—measurable Goals.
• Specific Measurements to assess how well an alternative meets the goals—Evaluation Criteria or Performance Measures.

Two PPACG advisory committees of PPACG, the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), have worked together to produce a working draft of the first component of the planning framework:  Vision, Mission, and Principles.  The two committees’ members challenged themselves to develop these components of the planning framework to be: 

• Realistic and credible,
• Well-articulated and easily understood,
• Appropriate,
• Responsive to change,
• Ambitious, and
• Able to challenge and inspire the group to achieve its mission.

CAC and TAC members also wished to define within the components of the planning framework the following: 

• What are the needs and opportunities?
• What are we going to do to address these Needs?
• What principles guide our work?

Draft Vision, Mission and Principles 

Vision:  Create a pre-eminent multi-modal transportation system that meets regional mobility and accessibility expectations as essential elements of the Pikes Peak Area’s quality of life.   

Mission:  Plan multi-modal transportation facilities and services that efficiently move people and goods and support economic vitality while sustaining and improving the quality of life in the Pikes Peak Region. 

Principles: 

1. Preserve the function of the existing transportation system.
2. Provide efficient transportation for people and goods.
3. Develop a multi-modal transportation system that provides access to employment, services, military installations, and other destinations.
4. Fully integrate connections within and between modes for people and for freight.
5. Increase the safety of motorized and non-motorized travel.
6. Increase the security of the multi-modal transportation system.
7. Support the economic vitality of the Pikes Peak Area.
8. Improve mobility of people and goods.
9. Protect and enhance the environment by implementing transportation solutions that are sensitive to natural and human contexts.

What Will Happen Next? 

To prepare alternatives for consideration to include in the Regional Transportation Plan, PPACG will examine existing transportation system conditions: 

• Congested facilities,
• Maintenance status,
• High accident locations,
• Travel patterns of the Region’s citizens, and 
• Currently available transportation options.

PPACG’s planning area includes the urban area in Western El Paso County and the Woodland Park area of Teller County. According to PPACG projections, the population of the Pikes Peak Region will swell to nearly 1 million by 2035.  Where these people will live, work, go to school, and shop will influence what transportation infrastructure is needed to accommodate their travel needs.  

PPACG is preparing socioeconomic forecasts that will assess, by small area of geography based on land use patterns and land development options, where people will live and work in the future.  Referred to as “Small Area Forecasts,” these projections will help PPACG examine the impacts of this increase in population and prepare alternatives for the Region to consider in addressing the transportation system needs of the next 25 years.