Lochmueller developed a rural Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) for the Greater Egypt Regional Planning and Development Commission in Southern Illinois. The plan identified the long-term vision of the five-county area (Williamson, Jackson, Jefferson, Franklin, & Perry Counties) and provided framework for future operations and maintenance for the multi-modal transportation network for 20 years. The plan culminates in a regionally prioritized list of project recommendations designed to help create a safe and efficient transportation system that supports economic development and tourism growth throughout the five counties. This plan is the first of its kind in Illinois and aims to serve as a precedent for establishing and funding rural transportation planning organizations throughout the state.
The plan preparation involved evaluating existing infrastructure, identifying a regional vision, developing strategic goals and objectives, identifying transportation needs, evaluating future scenarios, providing robust stakeholder and public engagement, and developing a list of prioritized infrastructure projects based on anticipated available funding. A GIS-based, planning-level safety analysis was performed to determine trends in crashes with all travel modes by location, time of day, collision type, weather conditions, driver age, impairment, and mode of travel. This analysis was used to advance projects that have impacts on identified unsafe portions of the transportation system.
The project team developed and refined a priority list of infrastructure investments and public policies to serve the region’s long-range goals. Several transportation projects and land use assumptions were evaluated using the statewide travel demand model produced by Lochmueller for IDOT. The travel model will provide a way to objectively evaluate projects, land use assumptions, and policy decision’s impacts on the transportation system as a whole.
