Making Changes to the Transportation Improvement Program
/One of the frequently discussed buzz-concepts of planning is a “living document”. As planners, we want our plans to not only be used but also evolve to meet the needs of communities and residents. While well-intentioned, far too often planners find themselves with a document that gets put on the shelf to collect dust.
In the transportation planning realm, we’re fortunate to have a document that reacts to community needs and funding realities, the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP includes a four-year list of federally funded and regionally significant projects for which funding has been secured. While that serves as a great tool for the public and local elected and technical officials to interact with, reality necessitates the occasional change in the list of projects. Budgets go down, costs increase, priorities change; the TIP process provides for this to occur in a structured and transparent manner.
There are two types of changes that can occur to a project listed in the TIP, an administrative modification or an amendment. Administrative modifications were created to allow small changes to projects to move forward immediately without the potential delay of the lengthy formal amendment process. Using an administrative modification staff, in consultation with local officials can make an immediate change to a project such as a minor, fiscally constrained change in cost, or a minor adjustment in the limits of a project that does not impact the overall scope. These changes happen frequently and were it not for the flexibility provided by the administrative modification process many projects could be delayed until the next construction season, see significant cost increases, or possibly even lose funding.
However, significant changes to projects, those with a major change in cost, scope, or limit or a new project or the removal of a project need to be fully vetted by the public. While a TIP amendment can take four to six months from the proposed change to approval, it is important that the public and local officials understand significant changes to the program. For areas in southeast Michigan, this formal TIP amendment process occurs 3 times per year. Because of the extended timeline, WATS staff and local officials have to be thinking months in advance to ensure project changes move forward in a manner that provides for a robust public involvement process without putting the funds at risk. While reviewing proposed changes to projects in Washtenaw County WATS performs several types of analysis. For an in-depth review of the process we use please review a previous TIP Amendment memo.
Action on the first amendment period of the federal fiscal year will take place at the WATS October Technical and Policy Committee meetings. A complete list of both administrative modifications and amendments is provided to our Committees. Following approval, the changes are reviewed at the regional level at SEMCOG before receiving approval from MDOT and the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration.
The TIP is a roadmap for investing for four years. However, just like on a trip in real life, things change and sometimes the way forward needs to be “rerouted”. This roadmap needs your input to be as effective as possible. We encourage you to review the proposed changes to the TIP on our TIP website. If you have questions or comments please email Suzann Flowers at flowerss@miwats.org, she will be happy to work with you!
