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NOACA Board of Directors adopts new criteria for funding highway interchanges focused on regional impacts and racial equity

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Last week, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) officially adopted a new policy to govern evaluations for new or modified highway interchange projects. The new policy dictates a deeper level of analysis for interchange projects, applying a regional lens to evaluate the costs and benefits of each projects. NOACA is the first MPO in the state to require this level of analysis for proposed highway interchange projects.

Background

NOACA is the transportation and environmental planning agency for a five-county region in Northeast Ohio, addressing the transportation, air quality, and water quality needs of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina counties. As an MPO, NOACA maintains a Regional Transportation Investment Policy (RTIP), which documents the transportation projects, including highways, local roads, transit and active transportation that the region will fund with federal and state revenues. The new interchange policy affects the evaluation process for when the NOACA Board of Directors considers new or modified interchange projects prior to including these projects in the NOACA Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), and on the RTIP as candidates for federal and state money.

Goals of the New Policy

The goal of the new policy is to establish methodology and criteria to evaluate new or modified highway interchange projects proposed as regional transportation system improvements. The current policy guiding decisions on interchange projects focuses on the technical process, and only studies the immediate area of the interchange. With the new policy, each proposal for a new or modified highway interchange will receive thorough examination of its impacts on both the immediate project site, and the region as a whole.

The policy additionally supports NOACA’s recently adopted Commitment to Racial Equity in Planning. Broadly, NOACA will look at who pays for a proposed project and who benefits from the new investment, for example, noting whether the proposed interchange will prompt the movement of housing, jobs, or capital investment away from majority-minority or low income areas into less accessible geographies.

The Process Under the New Policy

A proposal for a new or modified highway interchange would begin with an application to NOACA for a comprehensive evaluation. NOACA staff implements the comprehensive evaluation process to determine whether to advance the project for amendment to the LRTP. The evaluation is undertaken using two sets of criteria,

  • Transportation Planning Criteria, and

  • Local and Regional Impact Criteria.

Transportation Planning Criteria look into the technical aspects of a proposed project, looking at project spacing following AASHTO design guidance. Secondly, NOACA staff undertake a feasibility and a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed project that look into the congestions, total project, maintenance, safety, and emission costs.

Local and Regional Impact Criteria evaluate a project’s impact based on NOACA’s goals listed in the Regional Strategic Plan. These goals are:

STRENGTHEN regional cohesion, PRESERVE existing infrastructure, and BUILD a sustainable multimodal transportation system to SUPPORT economic development and ENHANCE quality of life in Northeast Ohio.

For each criterion, NOACA staff will analyze the proposal through a set of rubrics to demonstrate whether the new or modified highway interchange:

  1. Maximizes transportation related benefits across all impacted communities;

  2. Enhances the inter-relationships of communities within the region;

  3. Preserves or maintains existing infrastructure that serves currently developed areas of the region;

  4. Facilitates improvements that connect existing activity centers and reinvigorates existing communities of the region;

  5. Provides for the movement of goods essential to the economic viability of the region;

  6. Promotes environmental sustainability;

  7. Enhances and improves coordination for public transit, rail, pedestrian and bicycle transportation (could incorporate these elements into new development associated with new interchange, but need to also show that new interchange does not draw development away from areas already well-served by public transit and active transportation infrastructure, such as bike lanes, sidewalks, etc.);

  8. Ensures and enhances safety; and

  9. Enhances the public’s access to and enjoyment of the region’s parks, cultural assets and recreational activities; promotes healthy and active living.

After conducting this analysis, NOACA staff presents the comprehensive evaluation results to the Board of Directors, Board Committees, and Councils for final approval of the project proposal.

NOACA has received eight applications for new or modified interchanges across Northeast Ohio. These would be the first requests considered under the new highway interchange project policy.

Potential Impact of the New Policy

NOACA is the first MPO to adopt such an explicit process for review of new and modified highway interchange projects. Highway projects are incredibly expensive, and some studies have claimed that expansion projects, like a new highway interchange, can increase vehicle miles traveled and cause more traffic and congestion. In looking at the broader, regional impacts of major new project investments, NOACA staff can better consider the unintended consequences that affect the costs and benefits of a project.

Since 1970, population in Northeast Ohio has been declining at the same time that land use has been increasing, resulting in less dense, sprawling development patterns serving fewer people. The new highway interchange policy sets the bar for project sponsors to demonstrate whether their project truly results in net regional benefit.

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