14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-New Transportation Improvement Plan includes 70 projects
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By Nathan Ryder - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email
TRI-STATE (WFIE) - The Metropolitan Planning Organization released their new three year transportation plan.
New roads and new bike paths are on the list.
The Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization keeps a close eye on population growth and economic expansion happening in Vanderburgh, Warrick and Henderson counties.
The group projects what will need to be done to keep commuters flowing smoothly throughout the Tri-County region.
It was an opportunity for tax payers to see how their tax dollars will be spent on transportation projects in both Evansville and Henderson metropolitan areas Wednesday night.
"We look out way into the future," Brad Mills with the Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization said. "Our plan is to 20 years in the future so this might be a slight slowdown but as for our community's growth, I think our community is doing well."
The Transportation Improvement Plan, or TIP for short, includes about 70 different transportation projects, all to be completed in the next three years and all with one goal in mind: keeping traffic moving smoothly.
"We also do it to make sure our air quality is up, to provide for traffic to make sure we don't have people stopped and we don't have congestion and we don't have poor air quality," Mills said.
Projects include rehabilitating or reconstructing portions of Highway 41 from the Twin Bridges to State Route-168, building University Parkway from Upper Mount Vernon Road to State Route-66, improving numerous intersections and widening Oak Hill Road.
"It's going to go from a two lane road to a three lane road with bicycle lanes and sidewalks all the way from 41 to Pigeon Creek just north of Morgan," Mills said.
Plans also include an addition to the Greenway Trail just west of Garvin Park, phases two and three of the Newburgh Warrick Rivertown Trail and implementing safe routes to schools in Newburgh and Chandler.
As these 70 projects get underway this year, the MPO will start planning even more for growth, especially in one area.
"As you drive down the Lloyd Expressway, as you're leaving Vanderburgh County and get into Warrick County, it's beginning to get to the point where you won't notice you've left one community and gone into another because we are starting to merge together," Mills said.
To get a look at all 70 projects slated for Vanderburgh, Warrick and Henderson counties over the next three years, look at the links below.
Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization
Full 102 Page Transportation Improvement Program Report
3 Page Executive Summary of Transportation Improvement Program Projects
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