KTMPO holding public forums for transportation plan

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

Residents of Copperas Cove will have the opportunity to comment on the recently approved draft of the Killeen-Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization’s four-year Transportation Improvement Plan, or TIP. 
KTMPO is holding a public forum in Copperas Cove on Tuesday, April 10 at noon, at the Copperas Cove Police Station, located at 302 E. Avenue E. Another forum will follow the same day at 5 p.m., at the Central Texas Council of Governments, located at 2180 N. Main St. in Belton.
The forums are being held as part of a 30-day public comment period for the Transportation Improvement Plan. For those who can’t make it to either of the forums, the deadline to submit public comments is April 15. 
Forms can be downloaded and printed from bit.ly/2u2Wihq and then submitted to the KTMPO office at KTMPO, 2180 N. Main St., Belton.
Copperas Cove transportation projects already included in the KTMPO four-year plan are the $10 million raised median for Business 190 that will extend from Constitution to Avenue D, the $975,000 sidewalk and bike lane project on South F.M. 116, as well as the $1.75 million sidewalk project for The Narrows/Constitution Drive. The F.M. 116 and The Narrows/Constitution Drive projects are projected to be let in fiscal year 2019, with the median to be let in 2020, according to the draft plan. 
KTMPO is made up of representatives from area cities and counties, and the organization helps channel federal and state funding for area road projects for cities and counties in the KTMPO area. Interim City Manager Ryan Haverlah was selected by the Copperas Cove city council to represent Copperas Cove on KTMPO’s Technical Advisory Committee.
According to the draft of the Transportation Improvement Plan, KTMPO is required to keep up with federal mandates, especially where the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act, is concerned. 
The FAST Act was signed into law on Dec. 4, 2015, and requires that organizations like KTMPO provide facilities that “enable an intermodal transportation system, including pedestrian and bicycle facilities.”
Last updated in 2016, the TIP will be revisited by the KTMPO Technical Advisory Committee on May 3, with the Transportation Planning Policy Board taking an official vote on the plan on May 9. Then, by June 1, KTMPO will submit the approved TIP to the Texas Department of Transportation. 
The entire draft plan is available on the KTMPO website at ktmpo.org.