YMPO seeks comment on Transportation Improvement Plan
The Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization is taking comments on a draft of its updated Transportation Improvement Plan during a 30-day public comment period which ends May 24.
The wide-ranging document covers road, public transit, bicycle, pedestrian and other improvements anticipated to be built from 2018 to 2022 throughout the county, and after approval by the YMPO executive board will be sent for inclusion in the statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.
YMPO projects are typically funded by federal highway funding passed down through the state to the local level, with a relatively small matching payment required from the local governments which will benefit.
For instance, a construction project installing storm drains along North Frontage Road between Fortuna Road and Foothills Boulevard in the Foothills area is budgeted at $1.2 million, with $66,000 of that coming from the Yuma County level. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to approve putting that project out to bid at its meeting Monday.
Other big-ticket projects in the plan include a $1 million multiuse path for the Coyote Wash area, with a matching grant of $58,000 from the town of Wellton (fiscal 2019) and an $805,000 bridge replacement at County 12th Street and Avenue D, with $45,000 coming from the county.
Other funding is being requested for Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority, the agency behind the YCAT buses and other public transportation in the county.
Despite the large share being paid from federal funds, YMPO Executive Director Paul Ward says there still isn’t enough to fund the costly process of building and maintaining roads.
“The simple fact of it is, there isn’t enough money to go around to do everything that we need to do, in other words maintain the system, and build more. That’s the long and the short of it; there isn’t a great deal we can do to magic money up, I’m afraid. But we have to move forward,” he said.
The TIP has projected road maintenance spending of $3.4 million in fiscal 2018, $1.9 million in 2019, $911,000 in 2020, $901,000 in 2021 and $915,000 in 2022.
The TIP document is available at www.ympo.org or during normal business hours at the YMPO office, 502 S. Orange Ave.,Yuma, and Yuma County Main Library, 2951 S. 21st Drive, Yuma. Comments can be submitted to Charles Gutierrez through the website, at cgutierrez@ympo.org or by mail to the YMPO office.