CMPDD serves as the Metropoli- tan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Jackson Urbanized Area. An MPO is a federally mandated planning body responsible for transportation planning activities in urbanized areas and also for developing and maintaining multiple planning documents, including a Trans- portation Improvement Program (TIP).
The TIP is a financially constrained four-year program that identifies all projects for which federal transportation funds have been committed, along with non-federally funded projects that are deemed regionally significant. In order to select projects for the TIP, the District uses a project selection and application process. This process is used to allocate the limited transportation resources to projects that advance the recommen- dations of the Long Range Transporta- tion Plan (LRTP). These are projects that typically have the greatest impact on reducing traffic congestion, improv- ing substandard pavement conditions, and promoting public safety measures. Once project applications are received and reviewed by MPO staff, they are presented to the Metropolitan Planning Policy Committee, which is the policy making board of the MPO, for final ap- proval. All approved projects are then incorporated into the TIP.
Federal law requires the TIP to be updated at least every four (4) years. The Jackson MPO typically updates it’s TIP every two (2) years and begins the development process by notifying Lo- cal Public Agencies (LPAs) that a full update has been initiated and a request is made of each LPA to review the ex- isting TIP and notify MPO staff of any necessary project additions or deletions. The MPO staff then reviews the LPA recommendations and develops a full TIP update in draft format.
The draft for the 2015-2019 TIP has been prepared by MPO staff and is available on the Jackson MPO website (www.cmpdd.org) for a 45-day public review and comment period. A public hearing notice has also been published on the MPO website that lists the times and locations of several public involve- ment activities. In order to meet the needs of the visually impaired, the pub- lic hearing notice and draft TIP have been made available in RTF format to improve access by a screen reader. The public hearing notice lists the dates, times, and locations for county-wide summit meetings, which will be used to receive additional public input on the draft TIP, in each of the three (3) coun- ties (Hinds, Madison, and Rankin) in the Jackson Urbanized Area.
The first summit meeting will be held April 22, 2014 at the CMPDD office located at 1170 Lakeland Drive in Jackson. The second will be held April
23, 2014 at the Madison County Board of Supervisors’ office at 125 W. North Street, Canton, MS. The final meeting will be held April 24, 2014 at the Rankin County Board of Supervisors’ office at
211 E. Government Street, Brandon MS. The summits will be come-and- go style meetings designed to allow the public to review the proposed transpor- tation projects and ask questions. Each summit meeting will be from 4-6 p.m.
In addition, the MPO will host a public hearing at the CMPDD office at the conclusion of the 45-day public re- view and comment period. A display ad will be published in the Clarion Ledger and Jackson Advocate news- papers informing the public 14 days in advance of the hearing on May 7,
2014 at 1:00 p.m. The public hearing will be conducted in conjunction with regularly scheduled meetings of the In- termodal Technical Committee and the Stakeholders Committee At the public hearing, MPO staff will review and respond to all public comments received and then pass along all public input to the Metropolitan Planning Policy Committee for their consideration prior to a vote being held to approve the new TIP.
Copies of the draft TIP will be available for public review Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the CMPDD office at 1170 Lakeland Drive, Jackson, for the duration of the 45-day public review and comment period prior to the public hearing.
