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Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)

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. 

Current Highlights

2023-2024 Program Highlights

We're working on the following planning tasks for 2023-2024:

  • Complete a Vulnerability Assessment of the transportation system in Dutchess County.

  • Complete local planning studies including the Route 113-Spackenkill Rd Sidewalk Feasibility Study and Dover Plains Pedestrian Plan.

  • Initiate the Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Study, which will evaluate the needs and priorities associated with developing a 13-mile trail along the former Beacon Line.

  • Lend planning support to County Public Works as they implement projects across the county, to include improvements along CR 62 (Maple Ave) in Millerton, CR 103 (Annandale Rd) in Red Hook, and the CR 114 (Main St)/Grand Ave intersection in Poughkeepsie. 

  • Complete our annual vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle count program.

  • Complete our annual analysis of speeding patterns on county and local roads using data collected from our annual traffic count program.

  • Review and update the Functional Classifications of state, county, and local roads, based on changes from the new 2020 Census Urban Area boundary.

  • Continue our Watch Out For Me campaign to increase awareness of transportation safety issues in Dutchess County, in coordination with the County’s Complete Streets Committee.

  • Provide planning support to County Public Transit as they implement recommendations from their transit plan, focusing on improving fixed route and demand response services. This includes evaluating the potential for electrifying the bus system.

  • Update our bylaws and voting membership based on changes from the 2020 Census.

Previous Accomplishments

Budget

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 2023-2024, the estimated federal allocation for New York State totals $44 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.

2023-2024 Budget

Our 2023-2024 UPWP (.pdf) annual funding estimate totals almost $896,000 (about $728,000 in FHWA funding and $168,000 in FTA funding). We also have almost $731,000 in unspent FHWA funding from previous years that are available for programming as needed. We are programming all of these funds for the 2023-2024 program year. For information about how we've spent past UPWP funds, please see our most recent 2021-2022 UPWP Performance & Expenditure Report: 2021-2022 UPWP UPWP Performance & Expenditure Report (.pdf).