lessons learned from irene: vermont rpcs address transportation system recovery
DESCRIPTION
One week after striking the U.S. east coast as a category 1 hurricane, Irene arrived in Vermont on August 27, 2011. Flooding was devastating for transportation infrastructure, leading the RPCs to assist the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) in the recovery.TRANSCRIPT
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Lessons Learned from Irene: Vermont RPCs Address Transportation System Recovery
Carrie Kissel National Association of Development Organizations
Image courtesy of TRO
RC
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About NADO
National association for 540 regional development organizations, including emerging network of Regional Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs or RPOs)
Promote public policies that strengthen local governments, communities and economies through the regional strategies, coordination efforts and program expertise of the nation’s regional development organizations
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What happened in
Vermont?
Photo courtesy of Southern Windsor County RPC
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Damage across Vermont
Maps produced by Pam Brangan at the Irene Local Roads Response Resource Coordination Center.
9/30/2011. [email protected]
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Photo courtesy of VTrans
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Photo courtesy of VTrans
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Photo courtesy of VTrans
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Photo courtesy of VTrans
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10 Photo courtesy of Southern Windsor County RPC
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Response Priorities for VTrans
• Reconnect 13 communities shut off from state system
• Access to utility companies to restore power
• Re-establish east-west routes
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Vermont’s Regional Planning Commissions • 11 RPCs
• Serve whole state
• 1 MPO (Chittenden County RPC)
• 10 RTPOs
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Vermont’s Regional Planning Commissions Typical (blue-sky, non-disaster) RPC tasks:
• Transportation planning
• Land use planning and zoning
• Emergency planning and preparedness
• Natural resource planning
• GIS mapping and analysis
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RPCs’ Transportation Role
Sample of tasks relevant post-Irene: • Infrastructure inventories—bridges,
culverts, roads • Facilitating regional road foreman meetings • Traffic counts • Regular involvement in project development
and prioritization • Project management • Map making and data management
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MAP-21: Regional Transportation Planning Organizations New entities defined for non-metro:
Regional Transportation Planning Organizations
RTPOs are an optional designation to assist states with non-metro planning
RTPOs must:
Have a policy committee of majority local officials
Have a “parent” organization to serve as administrative and fiscal agent and provide planning staff
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MAP-21 RTPO Duties
• Regional long-range multimodal transportation plan
• Regional transportation improvement program
• Foster coordination of local land use and economic development plans with transportation plans and programs
• Technical assistance to local officials
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MAP-21 RTPO Duties
• Participate in national and state policy and planning development processes
• Public participation
• Consider and share plans and programs with neighboring regions and Tribal organizations
• Other duties to support statewide planning
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MAP-21 Role in Statewide Planning
• Where RTPOs exist, states must: – “Cooperate” on long-range plan development
– “Consult” on Interstate, Bridge, NHS, 5310, 5311 projects in STIP
– “Cooperate” on other projects in STIP for areas with a population under 50,000
– “Consult” on Strategic Highway Safety Plan
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19 Note: Dark blue states have a range of practices, and only some fulfill all MAP-21-defined duties in late 2012.
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Vermont RPCs as RTPOs
• RPCs play key role in Vermont’s Transportation Planning Initiative – Process by which VTrans conducts some of its
local official consultation and public outreach
– Established in 1992 in response to ISTEA, state planning law, recommended actions in 1990 agency evaluation
– Operate under annual contract to VTrans
– Duties codified in state statute in 2007
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Vermont RPCs: Assets
• Existing relationship with key local actors
• Knowledge of transportation network
• Familiar with disaster funding
• Early 2011, had external evaluation of RPCs strengthened network and delivery system
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Vermont RPCs
1 week after Irene’s New England landfall:
RPCs became VTrans’s partners for assessing damage on local transportation system
• Fieldwork
• Regional Coordination Center
• State Emergency Operations Center
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RPCs’ Post-Irene Tasks
Responsible for local transportation system:
• Mapping & data collection
• Resource matching
• Communications
• Help with FEMA Public Assistance
• Technical assistance
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RPC fieldwork
• Detailed inventory of every damaged road segment
• Inventory damaged bridges
• Inventory damaged culverts where possible
Detailed inventory of every damaged
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Photo courtesy of Southern Windsor County RPC
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RPC work at the Regional Coordination Center • Established at Chittenden County RPC (MPO)
• Daily/weekly status reports
• Damage Assessment Collection – Create forms
– Base maps to record damage
– Compile all damage reports
• Disseminate the damage report information
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Daily Status Report
• Example report from September 9, 2011 • Courtesy Chittenden County RPC
Irene Flood Damage Town Highway Regional Status ReportDaily Summary by TownTo be submitted BY NOON daily to [email protected] Preliminary assessment
Date 9/9/2011
FIRST SET RPC CODE IN YELLOW PULLDOWN CELL BELOW - this will then only show towns in the RPC region in the town name column pulldown
Regional Planning Commission SWCRPC Southern Windsor County RPC
Road Status Bridge Status Culvert Status
Town Name# Open but Damaged
# Partially Open
(e.g. 1 lane)# Emergency
Only # ClosedTotal
Damaged# Open but Damaged
# Partially Open(e.g. 1 lane)
# EmergencyOnly # Closed
TotalDamaged
# Open but Damaged
# Partially Open(e.g. 1 lane)
# EmergencyOnly # Closed
TotalDamaged
Andover 28 5 3 36 1 1 0Baltimore 1 1 0 0Cavendish 2 67 5 74 1 1 0Chester 123 1 124 9 9 0Ludlow 110 14 124 1 2 3 0Reading 25 14 1 40 1 1 0Springfield 4 4 0 0Weathersfield 9 4 1 14 0 0West Windsor 38 1 2 41 1 1 0Windsor 3 2 5 1 1 2 0
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Daily Status Report
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RPC work at the SEOC
SEOC—State Emergency Operation Center • Incident Command System’s Planning and
Logistics Sections role • Assisted FEMA • Incident Command System structure was
set up for the RPCs to report to VTrans with status updates to the SEOC
• Staffed multiple positions at State Support Function 1
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Lessons Learned
• Problems not generalizable across neighboring towns
• Data collection was overwhelming
• Need to develop and refine processes during blue-sky periods
• Damage assessment form revised 4 times
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Next Steps for Vermont
• More disaster planning, including incident command response training for all RPCs
• Full understanding of emergency operation center functions by all public officials
• Defining roles and funding sources by agreements during blue-sky periods
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Next Steps for Vermont
• Fluvial erosion studies, climate discussions influencing local and state system planning
• Switch to Fluvial Erosion Hazard mapping, beyond basic floodplain mapping
• Assist localities with identifying vulnerable parcels and infrastructure, alternatives
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Where are they now?
• Many roads and bridges re-opened by Dec 2011
• Largest transportation budget in state’s history signed May 2012
• 2012 construction season saw more recovery, more resiliency improvements
• Ongoing resiliency, funding discussions at state and local levels
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Special thanks: Kate Humphrey, Cooley LLP; Tom Kennedy and Katharine Otto, SWCRPC; Pam Brangan and Michele Boomhower, CCRPC; Peter Gregory and Rita Seto, TRORC; Catherine Dimitruk and Shawn Coleman, NWRPC; Greg Riley, VTrans; Kevin Adderly, FHWA 36
Photo courtesy of Southern Windsor County RPC
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Additional Resources
Carrie Kissel
[email protected] | 202.624.8829
www.NADO.org
www.RuralTransportation.org
www.Facebook.com/RPOAmerica
Twitter @RPOAmerica