ITD Communication Portal

Citizens and stakeholders play an essential role in the development of transportation plans by helping identify community goals and objectives, establishing common vision, identifying transportation problems and potential solutions, and helping decision-makers set priorities. Planning for future needs of Idaho’s transportation system takes place on multiple levels. Many people and organizations provide input for the decisions that help shape the current and future system by which Idaho’s residents, workers, and visitors travel, and by which goods will be transported around the state. ITD along with our partner agencies – federal agencies; the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC); Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs); regional and economic planning organizations; municipalities and counties; other state agencies; Tribal Nations; private sector entities; and the general public – have a role in the transportation planning process

Long-Range Transportation Plan

The Long‐Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) defines the objectives and strategies to be implemented during the next twenty years in order to provide mobility in Idaho. The development of the LRTP will be accomplished in the following ways:

• The plan will be presented to the public through mail, electronic mail, facsimile, telephone, and ITD’s website.
• A series of public outreach meetings will be held to present the LRTP.
• The plan will be available on ITD’s website, at libraries, government buildings and ITD’s offices statewide.
• The final draft of the LRTP will be available for public review and comment for a 30‐day period.
• The plan availability and locations for review will be publicized.
• All oral and visual presentations on the LRTP at these meetings will be done in clear, simple language with as few acronyms as possible. Presenters will provide basic introductory information on the topics being presented. If requested, an interpreter and/or signer will be provided.
• Clear and easy‐to‐read summary information will be available throughout the process and will be distributed through ITD presentation to organizations, in newsletter inserts of these organizations, on ITD’s website and by mail.
• The Idaho Transportation Board will approve release of a draft plan and consider the adoption of the final Long‐Range Transportation Plan during one of their regularly scheduled Board meetings.

Amendments or updates to the LRTP may occur for a number of reasons including: changes in funding sources, changes to priorities, changes to scope and purpose and need given the long‐range nature of the plan, amendments are few in nature. Opportunities to comment on proposed amendments/updates to the LRTP will be publicized by sending out a notice of the proposed amendments to the public. At the same time, a 30‐day comment period will be announced. The Idaho Transportation Board will consider the adoption of amendments to the Statewide Transportation Plan during one of their regularly scheduled Board meetings.

Corridor Planning

Identifying the segments of the public likely to be affected or impacted by a project is the first step and determines the range of public involvement activities needed. Early stakeholder scoping helps:

• Identify potential risks and controversies
• Gauge levels of interest for various stakeholders
• Assess available resources
• Identify social, economic, cultural and environmental concerns

While stakeholders include owners of property adjacent to various projects/plans/alignments, they also include users of the project, jurisdictional representatives, transportation service providers, government agencies and interest groups. A typical list of stakeholders might include:

• Adjacent property owners (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional – education, religious, government, non-profit, etc.)
• Adjacent property renters (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, etc.)
• Facility users (commuters, truckers, business customers, major regional employers
• Local elected and appointed officials (city council, county commissions, planning commissions)
• Resource and regulatory agencies
• Local jurisdiction transportation or technical professionals (public works directors, traffic engineers, planning directors)
• Other transportation professionals, such as Regional and Metropolitan Planning Organization transportation planners
• State transportation professionals (ITD highway designers and corridor planners, traffic engineers, environmental planners)
• Federal transportation professionals (FHWA, FTA, BLM, Department of the Interior)
• Transportation service providers (transit agencies, airports, marine ports)
• Neighborhood organizations
• Traditionally underserved populations who may be impacted, such as minority groups/leaders, low-income and persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
• Business organizations (local and regional Chambers of Commerce, economic development agencies, industry associations)
• Transportation interest groups (transit, freight, bicycle, pedestrian, highway, aeronautic)
• Native American tribes
• Special interest groups (environmental, non-governmental organizations, activists)
• Historic preservation and scenic conservation groups
• Growth-management interest groups
• Health and wellness interest groups
• Media (print, radio, online, television)
• The general public of the project’s geographical area

Identifying stakeholders can be a challenge, and it is important to recognize that no matter how thoroughly the stakeholder identification activities are conducted at the beginning of a project, the list of stakeholders will change as the project progresses. For more information on stakeholder identification and identification of stakeholder issues, please refer to ITD’s Public Involvement Toolbox.

The earlier all interested parties can be identified, the better. Because of this, it is a good practice to include mechanisms for outreach to the general public as a continuing element of the overall public involvement plan.

Other Planning Activities

Tribal Consultation During Statewide Planning

Coordination with tribes must occur during the planning process, and one avenue for this occurs when the public outreach for the draft ITIP/TIP is conducted. Tribal consultation is a separate and discrete process from the normal public involvement activities. The process should be documented and specific information on how the process was accomplished submitted to FHWA and FTA for when the approval of the ITIP is requested. Failure to do this can adversely affect the STIP approval and/or timing of that approval

FHWA Idaho Division contacts tribes each year to briefly explain the nature of the federal aid transportation program, offer assistance, and advise them that the draft ITIP will be available and that they should be hearing more from ITD regarding the ITIP.

Determine with tribes which projects are of interest and important to them, and plan accordingly for future public involvement in project phases. Tribes will determine what projects and what land is of interest to them. Idaho tribes include those with reservation land in Idaho and land area claims in Idaho.

Transportation and Air Quality Conformity During Statewide Planning

The Clean Air Act (CCA) requires that all transportation plans, programs and projects in or including non-attainment or maintenance areas developed, funded or approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) must demonstrate they “conform” to the state’s plan for meeting the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This includes geographic areas which are in non-attainment of the NAAQS or in those areas trying to maintain the standards after being in non-attainment. Conformity designations must be secured prior to the plans being submitted to the FHWA and FTA for approval. More information can be found in Chapter 9.