In August, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) opened its public comment period for the Draft FY2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for New Jersey which is a critical funding opportunity for the Circuit Trails and bicycle/pedestrian projects. The TIP is the regionally agreed upon list of priority transportation projects over a four-year period, as required by federal law. The TIP document contains list of all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with all non-federally funded projects that are regionally significant, with estimated costs and schedules. It is updated every two years and provides an important opportunity to submit public comments on policies, individual projects and what the region spends federal transportation dollars on. Once a project has been programmed into the TIP, it is prioritized for federal transportation spending and greatly accelerates its development process.
On September 12th, the Bicycle Coalition attended DVRPC’s Regional Technical Committee (RTC) meeting with members who serve as an advisory unit that report directly to the DVRPC Board. We covered the presentation shown at the RTC meeting which noted the 263 public comments that bike safety and trail advocates sent to the DVRPC Board in support of the Circuit Trails and the inclusion of safety and bicycle/pedestrian elements in TIP projects. For additional context on that action alert update read our blog.
On Thursday, September 28th, we attended DVRPC’s Board meeting, an 18-member body with the authority and responsibility to make decisions affecting the organization as well as the nine-county region. In its capacity as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the region, the Board establishes regional transportation policies, determines allocation of available transportation funds and prioritizes transportation projects for the region. DVRPC staff presented on the Draft DVRPC FY2024 TIP for New Jersey and Recommended Changes as the region’s official selection of transportation projects for federal funding and requesting adoption by the DVRPC Board.
We are proud to announce that the DVRPC Board was overwhelmingly in support of the recommended $19.2 million for the Rancocas Creek Greenway, State Route 130 Pedestrian Bridge (shown in the map above) and Trail Linkages which would prioritize available funds to accelerate the development of this important connection to Pennington Park, Amico Island, and Rainbow Meadow Park. Thank you to those of you who took action by sending a letter to the DVRPC Board requesting the prioritization of this important Circuit project. To stay in the know for all things Circuit related sign up to become a Circuit Citizen in your county and sign up for the Circuit Trails newsletter by visiting: https://circuittrails.org/newsletter/.