CMPDD has contracted with Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) to work toward the best possible level of internet service for all seven counties in our district. CMPDD’s role will be to assist local governments and counties in identifying and testing internet speeds in areas that have service but may be lacking the latest technology resulting in slow or inadequate service. Click here to read more.
CMPDD is proud to be a partner with BEAM in the effort to bring the best possible internet service in terms of speed and reliability to our residents. By participating in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, CMPDD will be helping local governments test and validate the quality of existing internet service throughout our district. If we find a residential address that is underserved according to the BEAD speed test tool, we can help file a formal challenge on behalf of the local government and the residential address.
The process is very simple:
- Visit the following website - https://broadbandms.com/ - and take the speed test. The results will indicate if you are Served or Underserved. A total of three tests on three different days that result in Underserved will be required for a challenge to be accepted.
- If a resident is Underserved, they can agree to be contacted by us for assistance with completing the tests and filing a formal challenge.
The process for residents is straightforward and easy but they must work with a local government or CMPDD to file a form challenge to their service. If you would like to know more about the BEAM initiative visit the BEAM website at: https://www.beam.ms.gov/.
If you are interested in seeing a statewide map of broadband service availability, check out the map on the BEAD website at: https://broadbandms.com/register/bead/map.
The Central Mississippi Planning and Development District Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is pleased to announce more than million in grant awards for 26 projects in the three metro area counties.
The MPO grants support a wide variety of projects that will be implemented over the next five years. Numerous grants went toward improving roadway safety in Brandon, Ridgeland, Pearl, Madison, and Flowood. Other grants went toward bridge improvements in Jackson and Byram, congestion improvements in Gluckstadt and Ridgeland, and resurfacing improvements throughout the region.
“We are really pleased with this cycle of grant awards. Funding approved last week by the MPO Policy Committee represents smart investments in community-based projects,” said Brandon Mayor Butch Lee, Chairman of the MPO Policy Committee.
Click here for a complete listing of funded projects or view our interactive map to see each project location.
Funding for these projects is available through the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program, which are federal funds allocated annually by the U. S. Department of Transportation to urbanized areas with a population over 50,000. STBG grant funds are administrated in the metro area by the Central MS Planning and Development District through its MPO planning process.
Eligible jurisdictions in Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties submitted applications to CMPDD in February 2024. The applications were then evaluated by CMPDD staff based on the project category and assigned a project score. The projects with the highest scores were the basis for a recommendation to the MPO Policy Committee, which approved the funding for 26 projects on May 8th. Combined, cities and counties receiving the .1 million in federal surface transportation grant funds have committed to provide over million in local matching funds.
For more information on the project selection process or CMPDD’s regional transportation planning process visit CMPDD’s website at www.cmpdd.org.
To project future conditions on the roadway system throughout the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO’s) planning area, CMPDD uses a computer-modeling tool known as a Travel Demand Model. The Model covers portions of Hinds, Madison, and Rankin Counties and is a forecasting tool used to predict changes in travel patterns and the utilization of the transportation system in response to changes in development patterns, demographics, and transportation supply. The model estimates trips by calculating the number and types of trips traveling between Transportation Analysis Zones (TAZs) across the transportation network. The model can be used to forecast future travel patterns and demands due to changes in:
- The Transportation System such as adding new roads, wider roads with added capacity, or closed roads.
- Land Use Changes such as added residential development, a new industrial site, etc.
- Demographic changes such as more or less people in a specific area.
The Travel Demand Model can test the impacts of critical “what if” questions about proposed plans and policies. Model output can provide users with a variety of information on travel behavior and travel demand for a specified future time frame, such as forecast of volumes for roadways or the effects of a proposed development or zoning change on the
transportation system.
CMPDD in partnership with the MS Department of Transportation and a consultant team began updating the current 2045 Travel Demand Model in 2023 to the 2050 Model. In January, control totals for projected population and employment totals for the year 2050 were finalized and CMPDD staff have been working to build-out the projected growth for each Traffic Analysis Zone to the new horizon year of 2050. Control totals for population and employment were developed analyzing a variety of data sources and included using a weighted factor to account for stakeholder feedback received through a survey CMPDD conducted.
Data is the driving force behind the Travel Demand Model and for the last few months CMPDD has been gathering data from local jurisdictions to include in the 2050 Travel Demand Model including: Future Land Use Plans; 2022 base year population, employment, and household demographics; school locations and enrollment; and identifying unique trip generators such as large commercial, healthcare, or industry facilities.
The 2050 Model is expected to be completed by mid-June and will be a key element used during the development of the Jackson Urbanized Area 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. For more information about the Travel Demand Model or the MPO planning process please contact Lesley Callender at 601.321.2152.
