Commissioners forward 2023 Long Range Transportation Plan to regional committee

The Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners voted to forward the 2023 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) to the Policy Coordinating Committee with a recommendation to approve after a presentation from the plan’s project manager.

Andy Deliden of Kittelson & Associates, the LRTP project manager, told commissioners the LRTP is a five‑year update that sets a 20‑year planning horizon and establishes a multimodal project list and priorities for the metropolitan planning area. Deliden said the plan’s vision rests on five goals: safety, resiliency, mobility, equity and economic vitality.

Deliden summarized outreach and analysis that informed the plan: two in‑person open houses, a virtual open house and an interactive online map that yielded 315 comments on deficiencies and 243 comments on the draft project list. He said the project inventory includes existing commitments plus projects carried forward from prior plans and new projects identified through analysis and public input, yielding 416 projects in total.

On costs and funding, Deliden presented project categorizations and fiscal estimates: about $300 million in committed projects, roughly $688 million in recommended projects and a fiscally constrained total near $988 million. He said revenue forecasts compiled for the plan total about $1.25 billion, which the team used to demonstrate the plan is fiscally constrained.

Commissioners had no public comments during the LRTP item. One commissioner asked whether an additional public comment period should be held before forwarding; the chair replied that the presentation was not a public hearing. After discussion, a motion to forward the LRTP to the Policy Coordinating Committee with a recommendation for approval passed by voice vote.

The document Deliden described includes a 130‑page report and supporting technical appendices and an online project map; the LRTP was scheduled for PCC consideration on July 18.