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 carry out our planning responsibilities in accordance with the federal Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) and related regulations and guidelines.
The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) has identified the following planning objectives for our 2019-2020 UPWP (.pdf):
Begin the update process for a new county-wide Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), using a 2045 planning horizon year.
Develop and approve a new TIP, programming federal highway and transit funds in Dutchess County over a five-year period (FFY 2020-2024).
Initiate an analysis of the Route 9/44/55 interchange and east-and west-bound arerials in the City and Town of Poughkeepsie.
Complete the Arlington Main Street Redesign Initiative to make Main Street in the Town of Poughkeepsie a more walkable and safer street.
Complete a Pedestrian Plan for the Village of Pawling, modeled after similar plans in Rhinebeck, Hyde Park, Pine Plains, Arlington, and Millerton.
Complete substantial work on a Hamlet Walkability Study for the Town of Pleasant Valley to identify ways to improve pedestrian safety and access in the hamlet.
Conduct a Safety Assessment of CR 19 (Slate Quarry Rd.) and CR 14 (Hollow Rd.) in the Town of Clinton.
Complete the 2019 Traffic Count Program, collecting volume, classification, and speed data at approximately 250 locations throughout the county.
Complete the fourth round of County and local pavement monitoring, assessing the condition of local roads in Dutchess County.
Complete the fourth annual analysis of speeding patterns on county and local roads using data from our traffic count program.
Continue our public safety campaign to increase awareness of walking and bicycling safety issues in Dutchess County.
Complete the Mid-Hudson Valley Regional Transit Study: Connect Mid-Hudson.
The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) worked with member agencies and stakeholders on a variety of short- and long-range planning initiatives, data collection efforts, and capital programming activities during the 2018-2019 program year, highlighted by the following accomplishments:
Completed the Downtown Parking Improvement Plan for the City of Poughkeepsie, which includes an inventory of available on-street and off-street parking capacity and an analysis of parking usage and payment compliance. The Parking Plan provides a prioritized implementation strategy to improve parking operations under existing conditions and with planned future development.
Completed a substantial part of the Village of Pawling Pedestrian Plan, which will identify ways to improve pedestrian access and safety in the Village. The Plan is being developed in coordination with a volunteer task force made up of local officials and residents.
Conducted a Safety Assessment of CR 9 (Beekman Rd.) in the Town of East Fishkill. The Assessamnt outlines a number of opportunities to improve safety along the 1.3-mile corridor, with a focus on low-cost, short-range improvements and, as feasible, more expensive longer-range improvements.
Completed an update of the CR 71 (West Rd.) Sidewalk Feasibility Study for the Town of Pleasant Valley, which includes a reassessment of existing conditions along CR 71 (West Rd.) and incorporates more recent traffic and safety data. The update refines the original report’s conclusions, recommending a variety of new sidewalk and crosswalk connections on the corridor.
Completed the 2018 Traffic Count Program, collecting volume, vehicle classification, and speed data at 254 locations across the county. The 2018 count program also deployed tube and video counters to count people walking and bicycling at 22 locations throughout the county, including the William R. Steinhaus Dutchess Rail Trail.
Completed the third year of a pavement scoring program for local roads in Dutchess County. This initiative provides municipalities with an objective and uniform Pavement Condition Index (PCI) rating for all paved roads to help track road conditions over time, prioritize limited maintenance funds, and develop capital programs to maintain and improve roads.
Completed the third annual analysis of speeding patterns on county and local roads, using data collected from the traffic count program. The analysis identifies road segments with high percentages of ‘high-end’ speeders, defined by staff as those travelling more than 10 mph over the posted speed limit.
Continued to lead the County’s inter‐departmental Complete Streets Committee, to include the continuation of the County’s traffic safety education campaign, Watch Out For Me, and a pedestrian safety education program for children, the elderly, and transit riders.
Completed an update of the TMA’s Congestion Management Process (CMP), which outlines a strategy to measure and mitigate congestion.
Completed a major update to the Transportation Council's website, and maintained the online TIP Viewer and Bicycle Parking Finder mapping portals.
Approved resolutions endorsing a variety of statewide performance measures and targets related to highway safety, bridge and highway maintenance, and highway operations, and asset management targets for Dutchess County Public Transit.
In conjunction with Orange and Ulster County, completed substantial work on the Mid-Hudson Valley Regional Transit Study: Connect Mid-Hudson.
The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) relies 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 the federal surface transportation authorization, the most recent being the FAST Act. For 2019-2020, the federal allocation for New York State is estimated to total $32 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.
2019-2020 Budget
Our 2019-2020 UPWP annual funding estimate totals almost $671,000 (about $543,000 in FHWA funding and $128,000 in FTA funding). We also have over $382,000 in unspent FHWA funding from previous years. Unexpended funds are available for programming as needed and we intend to use $225,000 of these funds for the 2019-2020 program year. The remaining unexpended balance of about $157,000 will be reserved for future projects and work needed to implement federal requirements in the FAST Act. We expect to spend a large share of our savings over the next three years, though some backlog funds will be kept in reserve to address unforeseen needs.
