The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) (.pdf) describes our annual planning work to address ongoing and emerging transportation issues. Preparation of the UPWP is required by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and serves as the basis for federal funding assistance for transportation planning.
The UPWP helps our member agencies coordinate various planning activities and relate transportation planning concerns to other planning activities in the region. Funding support for the work program comes from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Dutchess County and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) provide the required matching funds for all UPWP tasks.
We're working on a mix of transportation planning tasks for 2025-2026:
Make substantial progress in updating Moving Dutchess Forward – our countywide Metropolitan Transportation Plan – following the framework of the current Plan but using a 2050 planning horizon year.
Develop and approve a new Capital Program (TIP) for FFY 2026-2030 that will identify new and existing projects using federal highway and transit funding in Dutchess County.
Complete a new Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan (‘Coordinated Plan’) for Dutchess County, identifying the gaps and unmet needs related to providing transportation services for people with disabilities and older adults.
Complete the Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Feasibility Study, with a focus on drafting and finalizing trail concept plans, cost estimates, and phasing options.
Complete a Transportation Safety Action Plan (SAP) that will recommend improvement measures, priority projects, and performance measures to improve safety across the county’s transportation system.
Complete a traffic signal optimization study of 19 intersections along the Route 9/9D corridors in the Towns of Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, and Wappinger, Villages of Fishkill and Wappingers Falls, and City of Beacon.
Implement Resilient Ways Forward by promoting policies and projects to build resiliency and helping to secure funding from the federal PROTECT program for priority projects.
Continue our long-standing vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle count program and our analysis of high-end speeding on county and local roads using data from the count program.
Continue our Watch Out For Me campaign to increase awareness of safety issues in Dutchess County.
Assist County Public Transit as they progress their federally funded bus electrification study.
We worked with member agencies, local communities, and stakeholders on a variety of transportation planning activities during the 2024-2025 program year, highlighted below:
Completed a Climate Vulnerability Assessment of our transportation system, titled Resilient Ways Forward. The assessment analyzes climate change trends and their impacts on transportation, identifies where our transportation system is most vulnerable to various climate hazards, and recommends ways to reduce those impacts.
Completed an analysis of redesign options for the Columbus Drive section of the westbound arterial in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Completed substantial work on the Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Feasibility Study that will assess a 13-mile section of the inactive Beacon Line from Beacon to Hopewell Junction, looking at the feasibility of developing a rail trail along the corridor.
Completed a speed limit reduction study for the City of Poughkeepsie, which includes a summary of best practices, an analysis of data to identify where a 25-mph speed limit would be appropriate, and a mobile application to collect speed limit sign locations to aid future implementation.
Completed a truck turning study of select intersections on Route 9D in Wappinger and Wappingers Falls, analyzing safety and operational issues associated with large trucks navigating the corridor.
Initiated a countywide Transportation Safety Action Plan (SAP) to develop strategies to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. The SAP will reflect USDOT’s Safe System Approach and meet the requirements of USDOT’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
Completed the 2024 Traffic Count Program, collecting volume, classification, and speed data at 144 locations throughout the county, as well as 28 counts of people walking and bicycling at priority locations.
Completed an analysis of speeding patterns on county and local roads using data collected from our annual traffic count program.
Completed an analysis of pavement condition data on federal-aid roads in the county.
We rely on federal planning funds to carry out our metropolitan transportation planning process. These funds, allocated on an annual basis and programmed through the UPWP, come from two primary sources: the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Planning Program (PL) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5303 Metropolitan Planning Program (MPP). The funds are authorized through federal transportation law, the most recent being the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). For 2025-2026, the estimated federal allocation for New York State totals over $45 million. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) distributes the funds to the 14 MPOs in New York State based on a formula that accounts for each MPO's planning area population and its TMA status.
These planning funds, like other federal transportation funding, are administered through NYSDOT on a reimbursement basis. We must first perform the planning work, after which we are reimbursed for the federal share of the cost. Our staff administer UPWP activities and submit quarterly reimbursement requests and activity reports to NYSDOT.
As with most federal transportation funding, a 20 percent local match is required for the federal planning funds used in the UPWP. NYSDOT provides a 15 percent toll credit/in-kind service match, while Dutchess County provides a five percent monetary match.
2025-2026 Budget
The annual funding estimate for our 2025-2026 planning program totals almost $1.6 million. This includes about $726,000 in FHWA funding, $158,000 in FTA funding, and an estimated $690,000 in unspent FHWA funding from previous years. All funds, including the unspent balance of FHWA funding, have been programmed for 2025-2026.
