For the past four and a half years, HRTPO staff, in partnership with regional stakeholders, has been updating the LRTP to the horizon year of 2040.  Under Federal law, LRTPs must be “fiscally constrained” or “financially feasible,” meaning that there must be sufficient funding to cover the costs of the projects contained in the plan.  Essentially, the LRTP identifies how much money is reasonably available to help preserve our transportation system and support additional investments over the next 20 years to keep people and goods moving as efficiently as possible.  Through various Federal, State, Regional, and Local transportation revenues, the Hampton Roads region is forecasted to receive approximately $13 billion in transportation funds between now and 2040.

The draft list of projects for the 2040 LRTP identifies $12.8 billion of critical transportation investments needed to maintain region’s economic vitality and every citizen’s quality of life.  The draft list is comprised of 159 construction projects and studies.  The plan identifies 35 Committed Projects (projects under construction or will soon be constructed and fully-funded in the Fiscal Year 2015-2020 Six-Year Improvement Program), the 9 Regional Priority Projects, 88 planned Highway (including bridge and intermodal) Projects, 14 Transit Projects, and 13 Active Transportation projects. 

This system of projects, once built, is anticipated to reduce severely congested travel (congestion during peak periods of travel during morning and afternoon commutes) by 26%.

This draft list was selected based on a thorough analysis of approximately 200 candidate projects using the HRTPO Project Prioritization Tool (evaluates projects based on their technical merits and regional benefits) as well as fiscal-constraint guidelines established to help maximize the use of forecasted revenues across various modes of transportation. 

Supporting the technical analyses is the broad and extensive public outreach conducted over the entire LRTP process thus far.  Public outreach has been conducted throughout LRTP development phases and has been designed to inform and engage the public in all elements of the LRTP, from the development of the visions and goals to the review of the draft list of projects.  Between April and May, HRTPO is seeking public and other stakeholder review and input on the draft list of projects.  Click the image below to review the draft list:

In addition to the fiscally-constrained list of projects, HRTPO staff also produced one-page summary sheets highlighting the Regional Priority Projects.  To review these one-page summary sheets, click on the image below:

Next steps in the LRTP planning process include the final approval of the list of projects that will comprise the 2040 LRTP (anticipated June 2016) and the approval and adoption of the final 2040 LRTP in July 2016.