Transportation Planning
As one of the 18 designated Regional Planning Affiliations (RPA) for the Iowa Transportation Commission, Upper Explorerland is tasked with planning, programming, and administering state- and federally-funded, multi-modal transportation activities in our five-county region (RPA-1). Our planners work regularly with the RPA-1 Transportation Policy Board, the Transportation Technical Committee, the Transportation Enhancement Committee, and the Passenger Transportation Advisory Group to distribute federal transportation funds, oversee state- and federally-required transportation planning activities, and manage RPA-1 projects in the Iowa DOT programming system. Our planners also represent the RPA-1 Board and its Committees in state and regional initiatives that work to improve or support the multi-modal transportation network within the region. UERPC planners also serve as the region’s transportation resource by maintaining regional transportation data, assisting in project development, and providing technical support and planning assistance to the communities, agencies, and committees of our region.
The RPA-1 Transportation Policy Board is comprised of representation from each of the five counties and the two communities within the region with populations over 5,000, Decorah and Oelwein. The Transportation Policy Board guides and sets policy for regional distribution of state and federal transportation funding for streets, roads, walking and bicycling infrastructure, and transit, and ensures compliance with state and federal rules and regulations.
Advising the Policy Board are committees whose memberships represent expertise and/or interest in the focus of each committee:
- The Technical Committee, which consists of the five county engineers and representatives from Decorah and Oelwein, advises the Policy Board on matters of roadway maintenance and operations and recommends projects to receive funding.
- The Enhancement Committee consists of the five county conservation directors and other regional stakeholders with interest in ctive transportation and economic development activities. The committee meets to review and recommend projects for transportation alternatives funding and also works to build a sustainable regional trail system to provide non-vehicular travel options.
- The Public Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) is charged with building and operating a coordinated passenger transportation system to support those who do not have access to personal transportation options or who choose not to drive or own a car. This group consists of local transit representatives, private transportation providers, human services providers, and others concerned about transportation for non-drivers.
For more information, please contact Aaron Detter.
Please note: There is a known issue with the Iowa’s TAP Application form (linked below) when using a browser other than Internet Explorer (IE). If using a browser other than IE please do the following:
- Right click on the form link and select “Save link as…” or “Save target as…”
- Choose a location on your computer and click “Save.”
- Open Adobe Reader.
- Go to File>Open and select the file you just saved. It will open the form in Adobe Reader.
Additional Files
Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
The TIP is an annual document that describes the federally funded projects and activities that are programmed for the RPA-1 region in the next four years. It is a fiscally constrained plan that identifies the use of federal funds in highway, bridge, walking, bicycling, and transit projects. The projects identified within this document may receive federal funding from a number of different sources which are distributed through a variety of methods, some through formula, others are discretionary (earmarked), and some by a competitive granting process.
Once approved, the RPA-1 TIP is included in the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
Transportation Planning Work Program (TPWP) Documents
Transportation Planning Work Program annually outlines the transportation planning activities each RPA will undertake for the next fiscal year.
Passenger Transportation Plan (PTP) Documents
The Passenger Transportation Plan is a document that is developed to serve as a mobility management tool to help meet the specific passenger transportation needs of the region and further the development of the local and regional public transportation system. As of previous federal transportation legislation (MAP-21), annual updates will no longer be required. The PTP will undergo a full update every five years.
Public Participation Plan
The Public Participation Plan’s outline in detail the process each RPA will follow to adequately involve the public in their transportation planning activities.
Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)
RPA-1’s Long-Range, Multimodal Transportation Plan, Safe Mobility for Everyone, has a planning horizon year of 2045—25 years counted from the year of adoption and rounded up by one year to reach a decade midpoint. The plan is intended to guide transportation investments and policy in the five-county region in support of a transportation system that is safe for all users and modes, and that facilitates the efficient movement of people and goods. The plan includes a description of the region’s existing conditions; identifies current transportation challenges; anticipates potential future needs; and explores various strategies for addressing those challenges and needs. The plan identifies short-term and long-term projects and policy goals and discusses potential funding sources to aid in achieving the goals of the plan. This document also serves as a source of information for local decisionmakers and elected officials of the region.
The RPA-1 Transportation Policy Board adoped Safe Mobility for Everyone as the region’s official, long-range, multimodal transportation plan via resolution on September 19, 2019.
Hard copies of Safe Mobility for Everyone are available for reference at both UERPC office locations, as well as the following public libraries in our region: Waukon, New Albin, Lansing, Elkader, Strawberry Point, Oelwein, Fayette, West Union, Ossian, Calmar, Guttenberg, and Cresco.
Title VI Program
Notifying the Public of Rights Under Title VI
UPPER EXPLORERLAND REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION – RPA-1
RPA-1 operates its programs and services without regard to race, color, and national origin in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Any person who believes she or he has been aggrieved by any unlawful discriminatory practice under Title VI may file a complaint with RPA-1.
For more information on RPA-1’s civil rights program, and the procedures to file a complaint, review the “FTA Title VI Program – RPA-1” document below; call 563-382-6171 (for deaf/hard of hearing use Relay Iowa 711); email rhowe@uerpc.org; or visit our administrative office at 325 Washington Street, Decorah, Iowa.
A complainant may file a complaint directly with the RPA by filing a complaint form with Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission Attention: Title VI Program Coordinator, 325 Washington Street, Decorah, Iowa 52101. rhowe@uerpc.org.
A complaint may also be filed with the Federal Transit Administration by filing a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, Attention: Title VI Program Coordinator, East Building, 5th Floor-TCR, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20590; or with Iowa Department of Transportation, Office of Employee Services – Civil Rights, 800 Lincoln Way, Ames, Iowa 50010, 515-239-1422, dot.civilrights@dot.iowa.gov.
If information is needed in another language, RPA-1 utilizes Language Services Associates.