Miami Valley Secures 2017 International Trails Symposium
The 23rd International Trails Symposium will be held at the Dayton Convention Center May 7-10, 2017. MVRPC is an event partner and will be working with the committee in planning and implementing the conference. Other partners include Five Rivers MetroParks, City of Dayton, Miami Conservancy District, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Dayton & Montgomery County Convention Visitors & Bureau, Greene Co. Parks and Recreation, Miami Co. Park District. Numerous trails businesses and local governments are also supporting the event. Prior conference locations include: Portland, Fountain Hills, AZ, Chattanooga, Little Rock, Quad Cities Iowa/Illinois, Austin, and Orlando. For more information about the conference, please contact Amy Dingle, Five Rivers MetroParks or Bob Steinbach, MVRPC.
“Superstreet” Design Proposed for Greene US 35
As presented recently in the Dayton Daily News, ODOT is investigating design alternative to address the crash and safety needs along the US 35 corridor. The Superstreet concept would replace the fully directional Factory and Orchard intersections with left turns only from the east and west US 35 directions. North and south of US 35, the Factory and Orchard side street traffic would no longer be directly connected. Instead, to reach the other side of US 35 or to turn left onto the roadway, there would be 2 new maneuvers: turning right and then turning left through the 
median. As the ODOT graphic at left shows, coordinated traffic signals enable the median left turns and US 35 left turns to occur safely. For the left turns through the median, the graphic shows the two, long traffic lanes for storage of left and through turning traffic from side streets Factory and Orchard. The concept would also remove the Shakertown and Alpha US 35 intersections. ODOT will design the new alternative and evaluate traffic and travel time impacts. When ready with more details, ODOT will reconvene stakeholders meetings to inform the stakeholders of the impacts on travel. MVRPC staff will continue to track the developments, ensuring that there is a consensus.
MVRPC Participates in National Scenario Planning Forum
On January 6 & 7, Martin Kim represented MVRPC at a national scenario planning conference hosted by the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). NARC and consultancy, PlaceMatters, facilitated multiple sessions around the theme of inventorying current, best practices and needed tools to improve scenario planning at a regional level. The leading ideas for improving the field of scenario planning were increasing region to region information exchange; collaboration with academia and tool developers; and increasing capacity/expanding the field. Martin was able to share and highlight the Miami Valley’s experience with scenario planning during Going Places.
Attendees represented regional councils from Columbus, Sacramento, Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Boston, Federal Highways Administration (FHWA), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). More briefing updates will occur throughout 2016.
Traffic Count Viewer Mapping Application
MVRPC recently updated the online Traffic Count Viewer mapping application, which can be found at the link below. The new app is faster and offers more functionality such as searching and downloading counts. New data, 2013-2015, will be added next summer. http://www.mvrpc.org/transportation/traffic-count-program/mvrpc-traffic-count-viewer
Staffing Update
I’m excited to announce that Aaron Lee has joined our staff as a Transportation Planner in the Long Range Transportation Planning Department. Aaron was born and raised in the Mansfield, Ohio area and attended The Ohio State University, majoring in Geographic Information Science/Systems (GIS) and minoring in City & Regional Planning. He loves maps and is a very visual person, so GIS, paired with planning, was a natural fit. He worked for a year as an intern at our sister agency, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), in Columbus. He applied to MVRPC because he felt the Dayton / Miami Valley Region is a great size and he could make an impact. In his free time, he enjoys running, networking, and exploring the Region. He currently resides in Kettering, OH. Please join me in welcoming Aaron to MVRPC.
Grants & Funding Resources
On a monthly basis, MVRPC is highlighting several funding opportunities on our website that could benefit communities in the Region. We include a description, contact information and program links. We have also listed other valuable resources for finding funding opportunities.
See more at: http://www.mvrpc.org/our-vision/planning-services/grant-and-funding-opportunites
This month we are featuring information on:
- Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP); Deadline April 15, 2016
- Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Nature Works Grant; Deadline May 1st, 2016
Upcoming MVRPC Meetings:
2/18/16 9:30 a.m. Technical Advisory Committee - 10 N. Ludlow St., Suite 700, Dayton, Ohio 45402
2/23/16 9:00 a.m. Regional Transportation Coordination Council – Goodwill/Easter Seals - 660 S Main St, Dayton, OH 45402
2/25/16 9:00 a.m. Emerald Ash Borer Best Practices – 10 N. Ludlow St., Suite 700, Dayton, Ohio 45402
2/25/16 4:00 p.m. Public Participation Mtg. - Open Space Plan – 10 N. Ludlow St., Suite 700, Dayton, Ohio 45402
3/03/16 8:30 a.m. Executive Committee - 1515 S Main St, Dayton, OH 45409
3/03/16 9:00 a.m. Board of Directors – 1515 S Main St, Dayton, OH 45409