The Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (SAWMPO) is partnering with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to build a multi-jurisdictional planning partnership to reduce traffic, congestion and crash issues along a forty-mile stretch/segment of Interstate 64. The twelve-month planning project should begin this summer and be completed by fall of 2017.
Funding for the study comes from the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2)’s Implementation Assistance Program, an initiative of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Organizations (AASHTO). CAMPO and SAWMPO were selected to receive one of five Capacity – PlanWorksGrants. The $100,000 award will be used to develop a multi-disciplinary study of the Blue Ridge region of I-64, spanning from the Pantops area in Charlottesville (exit 124) to the junction with I-81 in Staunton (exit 87).
SAWMPO Policy Board Chair, James Harrington, praised the collaboration by saying, “We already have a great working relationship with the Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO through the Rideshare program, and the Interregional Transit Study underway. Working together on this study will further solidify the collaborative efforts of our regional MPOs and local governments. This shared Interstate corridor is a perfect example of how the various needs of our regions often intersect regardless of borders, and will allow us to work together to plan more effectively to meet the immediate and future traffic issues affecting resident and visiting travelers.”
The MPO collaboration is an ongoing effort to bring the knowledge and expertise of two planning organizations together for mutual benefit to both regions. The two MPOs met in October 2015 to discuss mutually shared transportation interests and projects, including multimodal needs in the I-64/Route 250 corridor connecting the two MPOs, public transit between the two regions, and the Crozet Tunnel.
For more information, contact Ann Cundy, Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) [email protected] –(540) 885-5174.
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Chris Graham
