In 1973, the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission organized the Muskegon Area Transportation Planning Program as the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization (MPO) Policy Committee. In 2003, when the U.S. Census Bureau expanded the Muskegon Urbanized Area to include northern Ottawa County, the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission realigned the Metropolitan Area Boundary (MAB) of the MPO and organized the West Michigan Metropolitan Transportation Planning Program (WestPlan). The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission has administered and staffed the MPO since 1973. WestPlan undertakes a comprehensive transportation planning program to maintain the eligibility of local governments in the area to receive federal and state transportation funds for street and road improvements, as well as subsidies for mass transit.

WestPlan consists of a Policy Committee and a Technical Committee. The Technical Committee reports directly to the Policy Committee. The Policy Committee is responsible for all final decisions regarding transportation. All meetings, with the exception of special meetings, are held during normal business hours.

WestPlan addresses a multitude of transportation projects such as safety projects like widening lanes, bridge repairs and improvements, air quality projects like traffic signal synchronization, and enhancement projects like bike paths. Two important planning documents that are produced through this process are the Long Range Transportation Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program.

The Regional Commission also participates, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and local road agencies, in the Transportation Asset Management Program. The program involves development of an annual data base of road conditions of all 39,000 federal aid eligible roads in Michigan.

The Regional Commission also assists in transit planning for the Muskegon Area Transit System and Harbor Transit in Northern Ottawa County. Planning activities include the compilation of rider and route statistics and collaborating on services related to seniors and individuals with handicaps.

Maintaining a list of the annual average daily traffic on roads in the Muskegon Metropolitan Area is also an important aspect of metropolitan transportation planning.

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Products and Publications

Click here to go to the a full list of recent downloadable WMSRDC publications, products, and WestPlan Policy and Technical Committee Meeting Minutes.

Contacts

For more information concerning Transportation Planning, please call (231) 722-7878 ext. 20 or contact: