Kankakee Times

Kankakee County Policy Committee met January 25.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Policy Committee Members Present:

Mayor Nina Epstein City of Kankakee

Mayor Timothy Nugent Village of Manteno

Mayor Paul Schore Village of Bourbonnais

Chairman Andrew Wheeler County of Kankakee

Mayor Bruce Adams Village of Bradley

Nick Allen River Valley METRO

Ryan Lindenmier Illinois Department of Transportation

John Donovan Federal Highway Administration

Others Present:

Tom Magolan, and Roger Blakley, IDOT; Delbert Skimerhorn and Geoff Olson, Kankakee County Planning Dept.; Mark Rogers, Kankakee County Highway Dept.; Cortney Koning, METRO; Steve McBurney, Bourbonnais; Rick Clevenger, Aroma Park; Carol Franke.

Call to Order:

Chairman Epstein called the meeting to order at 3:12 p.m.

Public Comment:

None.

Minutes:

Chairman Epstein asked for any changes or corrections the minutes from the October 26, 2016 meeting and, if none, a motion to approve them. Mayor Nugent motioned to approve the minutes as presented. Mayor Schore seconded the motion. Motion Carried.

Agenda:

Chairman Epstein asked for approval of the proposed agenda. Mayor Schore motioned approval of the Agenda. Mr. Allen seconded the motion. Motion carried.

FY 2017 TIP Amendment:

Mr. Olson explained that a request of amendment has been submitted by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to amend project HIL-12-032 for the Illinois Route 115 bridge replacement over Gar Creek. The total cost of the project is increasing from $1,200,000 to $1,450,000 and the funding sources are being amended to be $1,000,000 from IDOT and $450,000 of Federal Surface Transportation Program – Rural funds. Mr. Olson stated that the federal funds do not pull from the MPO annual allocation for urban projects. The amendment is required because the use of federal funds are within the MPO planning area. Mayor Schore motioned approval of the TIP Amendment. Mayor Nugent seconded the motion. Motion carried.

FY 2017 UWP Amendment:

Mr. Olson explained that with the fiscal year being halfway through, he reviewed and updated each work element in the UWP as was necessary. More work than anticipated had been spent in the Planning Services work element and Transportation Improvement Program work element. Also, the appointment of Delbert Skimerhorn as the MPO Director has also been incorporated into the FY 2017 Unified Work Program, so the Director position has funds associated with it. Mr. Olson stated that Mr. Skimerhorn will also continue maintain his duties as the GIS Coordinator. All changes made are revenue neutral for the overall program budget. Mayor Schore motioned to approve the amended FY 2017 Unified Work Program. Mayor Nugent seconded the motion. Motion carried.

METRO Update:

Mr. Allen informed everyone that METRO is continuing with their comprehensive operations analysis. He said each of the mayors will be contacted to set up a meeting to discuss the study. Mayor Nugent asked if there were going to be any major changes to routes. Mr. Allen responded that there were some slight modifications to routes.

IDOT District 3 Update:

Mr. Lindenmier referred everyone to the attached memo with project updates. Please see the last page for current updates. Mayor Nugent asked if all north-south traffic in the area would be affected by the Bourbonnais Parkway construction, because US Route 45/52, Interstate 57, and IL-50 will all be having work done. Mr. Lindenmier said all three routes would be affected. Mayor Nugent also asked if the rumors about removing the current Bourbonnais Parkway Bridge in a single night was true and if Illinois State Police would be assisting with controlling traffic. Mr. Lindenmier and Mr. Magolan explained that depending on the process, it could be removed that quickly. They said State Police would be helping control traffic. Mayor Schore asked if the municipalities could receive updates when major construction phases would begin. Mr. Lindenmier said he would forward that request to receive project updates. Mayor Nugent asked if Mr. Lindenmier or Mr. Magolan knew what work was occurring near Interstate 57 and Court Street. They said initial investigative work was being done where the railroad bridge goes over the interstate.

IDOT Urban Planning Update:

None.

FHWA Update:

Mr. Donovan said the U.S. Senate approved Secretary of Transportation Nominee Elaine Chao. He said on January 18, finalized performance measures were issued for performance and bridges and pavement conditions on the national highway system. He said the webinars that were scheduled have been postponed. He also recommended, to anyone who was interested, to attend IDOT’s training on preliminary engineering phase 1. He said it’s scheduled for March 7 in Kankakee. Mr. Donovan said he would provide further details on the MPO Coordination rulemaking later in the meeting.

Safety Committee:

Update Mr. Olson said the Safety Committee met and had a presentation from IDOT maintenance on snow and ice removal, which was very informative. He also said IDOT held a kickoff meeting for the Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which will address required performance measures and needs to be adopted by August 1, 2017. He explained that the MPO will have 180 days after the State adopts their plan to either accept the State’s performance measures or create its own. If the State adopts the plan on August 1, then the MPO will have until February 1, 2018.

Brookmont Boulevard Update:

Mr. McBurney said there was no update.

Riverfront Trail Update:

Mr. McBurney said construction has halted and it waiting good weather and for the river to go down.

Industrial Drive Update:

None.

New Business:

Bylaws Update-

Mr. Olson said he was reviewing the bylaws and noticed the meeting time for the Policy Committee listed a starting time of 3:30 pm. A new draft of the bylaws was included in the meeting materials that updated the meeting time to follow the Technical Advisory Committee, but meeting notifications will state 3:00 pm so meeting attendees are present for the start of the meeting. Mayor Nugent motioned to approve the updated bylaws. Mayor Schore seconded the motion. Motion Carried.

2040 Long Range Transportation Plan Amendment-

Mayor Nugent asked if it would be the right time to bring up a potential project to improve the runway at the airport. Olson explained that there would likely be an amendment to the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) in the next few months. He explained there is an interest to upgrade the runway at the airport, which could be funded by federal aviation funds. Recently there was a brief kickoff meeting held for initially identified stakeholders. There is a tentative meeting in Springfield during February to discuss the project with IDOT Aeronautics Division. Mr. Olson explained that for the project to be eligible to use federal funds, it must be included in the 2040 LRTP. He said he expects the amendment to be similar to what is included in the LRTP about the National Guard Training Facility, but will double check. There will be project updates at future meetings.

Old Business:

Travel Time Survey Update-

Mr. Olson directed everyone to a two-sided handout, included in the meeting materials, and explained one side showed the travel time averages for each corridor surveyed. On the other side, he explained the chart showed the changes of system-wide averages for each bi-annual sample since fall 2014. He pointed out that the morning and mid-day averages fluctuated across all the surveys, but the afternoon stayed within a few percent. It was noted that one of the route percentages of efficiency was formatted incorrectly, as was the percentage of time stopped. Mr. Olson said he would make those corrections and send out updated copies to everyone. He also answered questions on the corridor starting and ending points.

Rule-making on MPO Coordination and Planning Area Reform:

Mr. Olson informed everyone that in December USDOT, FHWA, and FTA finalized the rulemaking on MPO Coordination and Planning Area Reform. He explained that after a future decennial census, the Kankakee Urbanized Area could become merged in with the Chicago Urbanized Area. He said the final rule allows for exceptions, which would be something the MPO could consider if the rule were ever to apply to the Kankakee MPO. Mr. Olson referenced the final rule publication he said had a couple major changes. One was an exception for unified planning products, which include the long range plan, transportation improvement program, and performance measures. The other was for the rule to take effect two years after the Census Bureau released decennial census information, which would likely be 2024.

Mr. Donovan stated there were over 600 comments submitted on the rulemaking, many of which were in opposition. He said there could be many ways to justify reasons to ask for an exception and confirmed that it would likely take effect in 2024. Mayor Epstein asked who key proponents of the rulemaking were. Mr. Donovan stated that the Secretary of Transportation supported it because some areas, like Charlotte, NC, with many MPOs in close proximity don’t get along. He explained the process to remove a rulemaking is the same as establishing it and depending on how much attention it receives, it could be fast-tracked in as little as six months or take a couple years. He said that Secretary Nominee Chao was asked about the rulemaking at here senate confirmation hearing, but was not aware of it at that time, but she is aware of it now.

Next Scheduled Meeting:

The next MPO Technical Advisory Committee and Policy Committee meetings will be on February 22, 2017 starting at 3:00 pm.

Adjournment:

Mayor Schore motioned for adjournment and Mayor Adams seconded. Motion Carried. Chairman Epstein adjourned the meeting at 3:40 p.m.

http://planning.k3county.net/files/committee/2017_01_25_pc_minutes.pdf