The HRTPO is directly responsible for project selection and awarding of funds under two federal funding programs, namely, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) and the Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP).  CMAQ project types include planned improvements to address congestion, public transportation, bicycle and pedestrian, and freight. RSTP may be used to fund a wide range of transportation projects such as improvements to highway capacity, accessibility, and operations.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO) conducts the CMAQ/RSTP Project Selection Process annually, allocating funds through the end of the State’s next Six-Year Improvement Program (SYIP).  Since the next SYIP will be for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 – FY 2027, this year’s CMAQ/RSTP process selected projects to receive allocations in FY 2027. 

The HRTPO policies regarding the allocation of CMAQ and RSTP funds give priority to funding previously approved and ongoing CMAQ and RSTP project phases to completion. The competitive process used to select projects to receive funds from these two programs has been approved by the HRTPO Board and is documented in the Guide to the HRTPO CMAQ/RSTP Project Selection Process. https://www.hrtpo.org/page/cmaq-and-rstp/

The Transportation Programming Subcommittee (TPS), a group of Hampton Roads regional stakeholders, evaluates the funding needs of previously approved CMAQ and RSTP projects as well as the scores and ranks of new candidate projects in order to recommend a set of projects to receive FY 2027 CMAQ and RSTP allocations.  The Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) of the HRTPO considers the recommendations of the TPS and makes its recommendation to the HRTPO Board regarding the granting of CMAQ and RSTP funds.  The HRTPO Board makes the final decision on the projects to receive funds and the amount of funds awarded to each project. 

Based on this collaborative effort, The HRTPO Board approved FY 2027 funding to 34 projects across the region. This includes $15.1 million to 20 CMAQ projects and $37 million to 14 RSTP projects. A detailed listing of the projects is provided in Tables 1 and 2 below.

Table 1: New and Previously Approved FY 2027 CMAQ Projects and Allocations

Table 2: New and Previously Approved FY 2027 RSTP Projects and Allocations