WILMAPCO - Fall 2022
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Fall 2022
Quarterly newsletter of the Wilmington Area Planning Council TRANSPORTER
2023 RTP Update Begins to Take Shape
WILMAPCO has begun updating the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). Our overarching plan, the RTP lays out the region’s transportation Progress Report — which tracks the implementation of current RTP policy actions — and our Public Opinion Survey, which gauges public opinion about transportation issues.
The 2050 RTP: 2023 Update is not likely to feature a major overhaul of policies. Instead, minor adjustments to actions and performance measures are under consideration. These include a new action to “Support development of a Vision Zero Plan in New Castle County” and another to “Ensure data developed in transportation studies is publicly accessible.” The Vision Zero Plan would help address safety by considering more ways to achieve zero annual fatalities from road crashes. A pair of proposed new performance measures, meanwhile, include a 10% reduction in per capita Vehicle Miles Traveled between 2020 and 2030 and a 48% target for spending on projects that preserve the current system.
WILMAPCO is still building the list of transportation projects. There are more than 350. Included projects involve road widenings, intersection expansions, a commuter rail expansion, bus service expansions, and new walking and biking pathways. Projects that are realistically expected to have funding within the next 20 years are termed “Fiscally Constrained” while the rest are “Aspirational” projects.
With the support of the Delaware and Maryland Departments of Transportation (DelDOT and MDOT), we are taking a close look at the air quality impacts of
the RTP expansion projects, whose goal is to increase the capacity of the roadways. A regional air-quality conformity analysis will ensure that these projects meet air quality standards. Projects include: a new I-95/ Belvidere Road Interchange, widenings of SR 1, and a grade-separated interchange at US 40 and SR 896. Results of this analysis are expected this fall.
WILMAPCO is currently engaging member agencies and municipalities to construct the draft RTP. A wider public comment period will run between January and March 2023, with a public workshop planned for February 8 as part of WILMAPCO’s Our Town event. WILMAPCO’s Council will vote on the new RTP in March 2023.
To learn more about the RTP, please visit www.wilmapco.org/rtp. To learn more about Our Town, please visit www.wilmapco.org/ourtown.
