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 2024-2025:
Initiate a Transportation Safety Action Plan (SAP) that aligns with USDOT’s Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Program. The SAP will allow agencies and municipalities to apply for future SS4A capital funding.
Initiate a series of planning tasks for the Route 9D corridor, focusing on heavy truck activity and operational issues in Wappingers Falls and at major intersections in Wappinger.
Complete substantial work on the Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Feasibility Study, to include an existing conditions report and preliminary concept evaluation. We will also begin work on a final concept plan and cost estimates.
Begin implementation of Resilient Ways Forward – our climate vulnerability assessment of the transportation system in Dutchess County.
Continue our long-standing vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle count program and our analysis of high-end speeding on county and local roads.
Review and update the functional classification of state, county, and local roads in Dutchess County, based on the recently adjusted 2020 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.
Continue to lend planning support to County Public Works as they implement various projects across the county, to include improvements along CR 62 (Maple Ave) in Millerton, CR 103 (Annandale Rd) in Red Hook, and at the CR 114 (Main St)/Grand Ave intersection in Poughkeepsie.
Provide planning guidance to County Public Transit as they consider service changes in 2024 and progress a federally funded electrification study of their bus system and facilities.
We worked with member agencies, local communities, and stakeholders on a variety of transportation planning activities during the 2023-2024 program year, highlighted below:
Adopted a new set of Bylaws that revised the DCTC’s voting membership based on changes to the Census defined 2020 Urban Area boundary and clarify how changes are made to the five-year capital program (TIP).
Approved over $8.6 million in new federal pandemic funding for County Public Transit.
Completed a sidewalk feasibility study of Route 113-Spackenkill Rd in the Town of Poughkeepsie. The study found that sidewalks on both sides of Spackenkill Rd (from Croft Rd to CR 74-Cedar Ave) are possible within the existing right-of-way with limited impacts to private property.
Completed substantial work on a climate vulnerability assessment of the transportation system in Dutchess County. Titled Resilient Ways Forward, the assessment identifies the effects of climate change on transportation infrastructure and services, and recommends ways to improve resiliency through adaptation policies and practices.
Completed substantial work on a redesign concept for the Columbus Dr section of the westbound arterial in the City of Poughkeepsie. This work builds on our Poughkeepsie 9.44.55 study and looks at ways to make the weave safer for people driving, walking, and biking.
Continued to lead the County’s inter‐departmental Complete Streets Committee. This work included continuing the County’s GTSC-funded pedestrian safety education campaign, Watch Out For Me, for children and older adults in the Poughkeepsie area.
Initiated the Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Study that will inventory and 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.
Continued to lend planning support to County Public Works on their Universal Accessibility program, including sidewalk improvements in Millerton on CR 62 (Maple Ave) and in Poughkeepsie on CR 75 (Innis Ave).
Approved adjustments to our portion of the Census-defined Poughkeepsie-Newburgh NY Urban Area boundary.
Completed a mid-cycle update to Moving Dutchess Forward, using newly available data to refresh the Learn Section.
Completed the 2023 Traffic Count Program, collecting volume, classification, and speed data at about 200 locations throughout the county, as well as 30 video 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 2024-2025, the estimated federal allocation for New York State totals $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.
2024-2025 Budget
The annual funding estimate for our 2024-2025 planning program totals almost $1,837,000. This includes about $717,000 in FHWA funding, $155,000 in FTA funding, and an estimated $965,000 in unspent FHWA funding from previous years. All funds, including the unspent balance of FHWA funding, have been programmed for 2024-2025.
