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Northern Middlesex MPO:
FFY2025 UPWP Amendment #3 Available for Review and Comment

On March 26, 2025 the Northern Middlesex Metropolitan Planning Organization (NMMPO) voted to release a Amendment #3 to the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2025 Unified Planning Work Program for a 21-day public comment period. Instructions on how to provide comments on this proposed amendment are provided under “Share Your Comments”, below.

FFY2025 UPWP Amendment #3
This amendment proposes adjust the focus of UPWP Task 5.1 from a study of the Bridge Street corridor in Dracut to project ot assist the Town of Dracut in prioritizing roadways and intersections for future improvmeents. The objective of the amended task is to help the Town come to an agreement on which areas to focus on and/or invest design funds into in order to advance projects to the NMMPO Transportation Improvement Program.

View a summary of the amendment.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS
Comments to any or all of the above documents may be provide via email or mail. Comments will be accepted between March 26, 2025 and April 18, 2025, as well as at the April 23 meeting of the NMMPO.

  • Email: send comments via email to publiccomments@nmcog.org

  • Mail: send comments via mail to Northern Middlesex MPO, 672 Suffolk Street, Suite 100, Lowell, MA 01852.

  • Attend a the next NMMPO meeting: Public comments will be invited at the April 23, 2025 meeting of the NMMPO immediately preceeding NMMPO deliberation on whether to endorse the amendment. To attend the meeting, visit the Zoom link below.

    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84994892225?pwd=X6uqzTjFm1kTPhivu7mBNP8ypYMZYy.1
    Meeting ID: 849 9489 2225
    Passcode: 2050_k3

    To join the meeting by audio only dial +1-646 931-3860.

NEXT STEPS
Following the NMMPO meeting public comment opportunity, the NMMPO will consider endorsement. The agenda for the April 23, 2025 meeting will be posted at https://nmcog.org/calendar a week before the meeting.

NEED ASSISTANCE?
NMMPO meetings are held via Zoom. For information about accessing these meetings visit https://nmcog.org/calendar or call 978-454-8021. The NMMPO provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (including but not limited to interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, open or closed captioning for videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats), as available. For assistance, please contact Kelly Lynema at 978-454-8021 or klynema@nmcog.org. Requests should be made as soon as possible for services requiring advanced arrangements, including sign language, CART or language translation or interpretation.

Previous Public Comment Periods

  • NMMPO staff developed a significant update to the NMMPO’s 2017 Public Participation Plan. The changes reflect the agency’s post-pandemic approach to engagement and address corrective actions identified during the NMMPO Federal Certification Review process. The updated Public Participation Plan is written to an audience of NMCOG and NMMPO staff, municipal staff, and the general population of the region, providing guidance on various tools, methods, and strategies for engaging people in all types of planning the agency leads. Key information on how people can engage in the agency’s federally-mandated planning processes and clarity around public comment periods is also provided.

    View the endorsed 2025 Public Participation Plan

    The 45-day public comment period for the Public Participation Plan began on January 22, 2025 and ended on March 8, 2025. The NMMPO heard public and staff comments on the PPP and voted to endorse the updated Plan at their meeting on March 26, 2025.

  • On May 22, 2024, the MPO voted to release the draft Greater Lowell Vision Zero Plan for public review and comment. The public comment period was from May 22 through June 12, 2024, with a hybrid public meeting held on June 5, 2024 to review the plan and hear public comments.

    The revised draft of the Greater Lowell Vision Zero Plan will be brought back to the MPO at their July 24, 2024 meeting for evaluation and endorsement. Learn more about the Greater Lowell Vision Zero Plan here.

  • UPWPs provide a scope of work for MPOs to achieve the regional vision outlined in Metropolitan Transportation Plans (MTPs) in addition to the ongoing planning work of identifying and prioritizing federal aid projects on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The UPWP is a means to coordinate many different planning activities, in order to address transportation planning concerns through a comprehensive planning program. It supports the “3-C” Process: comprehensive, cooperative, continuing transportation planning.

    The MPO periodically adjusts the annual Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) to respond to changes in project and planning readiness, staff availability, and other impacts. Amendments to the current year UPWP are described below:

    At the May 22, 2024 NMMPO meeting the Northern Middlesex Metropolitan Planning Organization (NMMPO) voted to release the draft FFY 2025 UPWP document for a public review and comment period through June 12, 2024. The FFY 2025 UPWP was endorsed by the MPO at their June 26, 2024 meeting. The final UPWP can be viewed here. The final amended UPWP is posted to the NMCOG website.

  • All approved amendments to the current year TIP may be viewed by visiting the Federal Certification Documents page of the NMCOG website.

  • At its February 22, 2023 meeting, the Northern Middlesex MPO voted to release the draft 2023 Title VI Plan for a 21-day public review and comment period, ending on March 17, 2023.

  • At the June 28, 2023 NMMPO meeting, Northern Middlesex MPO voted to release the draft 2023 Coordinated Public Transit Human Services Plan for a 21 -day public comment period.

  • On July 28, 2023, the Northern Middlesex MPO opened a public comment period for the draft Envision 2050: The Long-Range Transportation Plan. This period ended on August 17, 2023. Feedback was received via email, a virtual session on August 8, 2023, and by mail to NMCOG, 40 Church Street, Suite 200, Lowell, MA 01854

  • Nashua UZA MOU
    At their March 26, 2025 meeting, the NMMPO voted to endorse the updated MOU between NMCOG, the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA), the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the Nashua Regional Planning Commission Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission Metropolitan Planning Organization, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the Nashua Transit System, and the Manchester Transit Authority. The MOU was updated to reflect the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 Decennial Census population information.

    Review the updated MOU