Welcome and Introductions (Chair)
Public Comment (Chair)
Approval of February 6, 2018 Minutes (Chair)
Presentation: 2040 Plan Retrospective and Direction for 2050 Plan (Scott Weber)
INDOT Letting Report (Stephan Summers)
NIRPC Staff Updates (Scott Weber)
2018 Household Travel Survey Update
Performance Based Planning and Programming Update
Reliability and Congestion Project with Valparaiso University
Air Quality Post Processor Model Update
Other Business (Chair)
Adjourn (Chair)
Surface Transportation Committee Meeting NIRPC Dunes Room
February 6, 2018
Vice Chair Christine Cid called the meeting to order at 1:36 PM with self-introductions. Present were Christine Cid, Lake County Council; AJ Monroe, Holladay Properties, Jeff Huet, Schererville; Mark Gordish, Hammond; Denny Cobb, First Group Engineering; Stephan Summers, INDOT; Mike Yacolla, Ciorba Group.
NIRPC staff present were Scott Weber and Trey Wadsworth. Christine Cid asked for public comment, but there was none.
Christine Cid entertained a motion to approve the December 5, 2017 minutes. Jeff Huet made a motion that the minutes be approved, seconded by Mike Yacullo, and the December 5, 2017 minutes were approved.
Scott Weber gave a presentation on the Bridge Conditions in Northwest Indiana. Percent of National Highway System bridge deck area in good condition and in poor condition are the two performance measures INDOT and NIRPC will have to determine baseline performance and set targets on. Compared with the rest of the state, bridges in Northwest Indiana are somewhat less good and more poor, but with the word of caution that Scott did not calculate so far based on bridge deck area, which the rule calls for, but rather number of bridges. Denny Cobb asked Scott what he planned to do with the information showing that bridges in Northwest Indiana perform more poorly than the rest of the state, and Scott said it is up to this committee, but that he planned to relay the information to the INDOT team in charge of Performance Based Planning and Programming.
Stephan Summers gave the INDOT Letting Report. In January, several maintenance contracts let, and there was a $15 million big bridge bundle, especially in Hammond on Cline Avenue and Calumet Avenue, and the Indianapolis Blvd bridge in Highland over the GTW Railroad. In Hammond, INDOT is putting in some HAWK pedestrian signals. In February, there will be another bridge bundle, including twin bridges in Schneider on US-41 and on US-20 in Portage. There will also be a bridge replacement on State Line Ave over the Kankakee River. There will be a bike pedestrian trail in Hammond, and an interchange modification in Rolling Prairie on SR-2 with added travel lanes. In March, there will be letting for an interchange modification on Westbound I-80/94 at I-65.
Scott Weber gave staff updates. NIRPC adopted the Safety Performance Targets by supporting INDOT’s targets, but is undergoing public comment to amend in the Safety Performance Targets into the NIRPC 2040 Plan and FY 2018 to 2021 Transportation Improvement Program. NIRPC just kicked off the NIRPC Household Travel Survey to survey about 2,000 residents in Northwest Indiana, and collection will start in late March most likely. NIRPC is teaming up with a Valparaiso University Data Science class to analyze reliability and congestion in the region in order to prepare Performance Targets and report by May. The INDOT Air Quality Post Processor is moving along, with consultants developing a tool that works directly with the Travel Demand Model to reduce modeling time.
Trey Wadsworth mentioned a public comment period for the Greenway and Blueway 2020 Plan. Christine Cid adjourned the meeting.