At its July 17, 2014 meeting, the HRTPO Board approved the HRTPO FY 2015-2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).  This document represents a full update of the TIP – the previous full update (FY 2012-2015) was done in June 2011.  The new TIP is scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2014.

The HRTPO TIP is a financially-constrained, multi-year program for the implementation of surface transportation projects within the Hampton Roads metropolitan planning area (MPA).  In accordance with Federal regulations, the TIP must contain all federally funded and/or regionally-significant projects that require an action by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  Before any such project can be conducted or constructed in the MPA, it must be included in a current TIP that has been approved by the HRTPO Board.

The draft FY 2015-2018 TIP was made available for public review from April 20, 2014 through May 30, 2014.  In addition, an online public survey on the TIP ran from May 12, 2014 through June 12, 2014.  The survey garnered responses from 140 individuals of which:

• 71 percent said they thought the projects in the TIP will ease congestion in Hampton Roads,
• 70 percent said they thought the projects in the TIP will improve connectivity in Hampton Roads, and

Additional comments were submitted by 52 of the survey respondents.  Those comments are included in the appendix of the document.

Highlights from the FY 2015-2018 TIP

The HRTPO FY 2015-2018 TIP contains 322 individually listed projects and seven project groups with a total planned funding obligation of nearly $3.3 Billion over the four-year period.  Each of the project groups may include a number of projects that are not considered to be of appropriate scale for individual identification, such as preventive maintenance, rail crossing safety improvements, intersection and roadway operational improvements, small-scale bridge rehabilitation, and enhancement projects.

The following table shows the breakdown of projects and funding obligations by section in the TIP:

¹ Miscellaneous projects are generally regional in nature and do not clearly fall into one of the systems.

² Projects included for Administrative Purposes generally fall into the following categories: projects that are complete, but have not been processed through financial close out; projects that have received Federal earmarks, but are not active projects; and projects that are related to other currently active projects.

³ Federal regulations allow for certain projects that are not considered to be of appropriate scale for individual identification in a given program year to be grouped by function, work type, and/or geographic area.

The FY 2015-2018 TIP includes many projects that are fully funded through construction:

• Multiple Intersection Improvements - $89.9 Million
• Hampton Boulevard Reconstruction in Norfolk - $88.7 Million
• Holland Road Widening in Virginia Beach - $46.8 Million
• Warwick Boulevard Widening in Newport News - $58.8 Million
• Multiple Signal System Improvement Projects - $16.8 Million
• Multiple Bicycle/Pedestrian Projects - $16.6 Million
• Wesleyan Drive Widening in Norfolk & Virginia Beach - $12.3 Million
• Hampton Roads Transit Bus Purchases - $4.6 Million

Other significant projects in the TIP include:

• I-64 Peninsula Widening (Segment 1) – from 0.50 mile east of Route 238 (Exit 247) to 1.55 mile west of Route 143 (Exit 255)
• I-64 & I-264 Pavement Rehabilitation
• I-64 and High-Rise Bridge Environmental Study – Chesapeake
• Atkinson Boulevard Construction – Newport News
• Denbigh Boulevard Bridge Replacement – Newport News
• Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Widening – Chesapeake
• George Washington Memorial Highway Widening – York County
• Lesner Bridge Replacement – Virginia Beach
• Military Highway Widening – Norfolk
• Saunders Road Widening – Hampton
• Wythe Creek Road Widening - Poquoson

Certification of the Planning and Programming Process

In accordance with Federal regulations, all MPAs, concurrent with the submittal of the entire proposed TIP to FHWA and FTA as part of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program approval, the State and the metropolitan planning organization must certify that the metropolitan planning process is being carried out in accordance with applicable requirements.

You may access the FY 2015-2018 TIP on the web at: www.hrtpotip.org.  On that website, you may also access the HRTPO Board resolution approving the TIP, as well as the Certification of the Planning and Programming Process and an attached Accomplishments Report.