Draft Memorandum for the Record
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Minutes
July 10, 2025, Meeting
1:00 PM–2:00 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform
Chris Klem, Chair, representing Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Committee agreed to the following:
Materials for this meeting included the following:
Please see attendance on page 5.
There were none.
A motion to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2025, meeting was made by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent) and seconded by the Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Tom O’Rourke). The motion carried.
A motion to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2025, meeting was made by the Inner Core Committee (T. Bent) and seconded by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (Julia Wallerce). The motion carried.
O. Saccocia explained that UPWP amendments are triggered when budget transfers are made between line items that are equal to or greater than 25 percent of the overall task budget. Amendment Three to the FFY 2025 UPWP includes budget reallocations, an updated description of the Multimodal Mobility Infrastructure Program, and the inclusion of two grant awards into the appendix of the document.
O. Saccocia presented the proposed budget reallocations (please see the memo for FFY 2025 UPWP Amendment Three (PDF) (HTML) for more information). The proposed budget changes result in a net zero impact on the overall FFY 2025 UPWP budget.
O. Saccocia explained that the Multimodal Mobility Infrastructure Program description will be updated to include work that staff will conduct related to the MPO’s Vision Zero initiative. This change is being proposed so that staff can continue to incorporate stakeholder feedback into the Vision Zero action plan.
O. Saccocia also summarized the two additional grants that will be included in Appendix A of the document, both awarded to the Boston Region MPO: a $150,000 Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity Grant and a $1,001,100 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant.
Due to the timing of the amendment, O. Saccocia asked the committee to waive the public comment period.
David Koses, City of Newton, asked why the two grants are being programmed into the UPWP toward the end of the federal fiscal year. He asked if staff could clarify the work timeline for these grants.
O. Saccocia explained that, due to staffing changes in UPWP manager position, the inclusion of these grants into a UPWP amendment was delayed. However, work is being conducted on these grants and the original timeline remains. The work will be completed by the end of the fiscal year in September.
A motion to approve Amendment Three to the FFY 2025 UPWP was made by the City of Newton (D. Koses) and seconded by the Inner Core Committee (T. Bent). The motion carried.
O. Saccocia explained that administrative modifications can be made to the UPWP for minor changes, such as small changes to task descriptions, project timelines, or project activities. While these changes must be presented to the UPWP Committee and the MPO board, they are not required to have a vote of approval or public comment period.
O. Saccocia stated that the administrative modification will revise one task description within the direct support UPWP line item. She explained that MPO staff are recommending reallocating $100,000 of funds to hire a consultant to assist with Vision Zero work. This $100,000 was originally set aside to hire a consultant for an agency rebranding and identity initiative, which will no longer happen in FFY 2025.
O. Saccocia provided an overview of the public comment period for the FFY 2026 UPWP and presented a few small changes that were made to the draft document.
The draft document received one public comment, which suggested that MPO staff focus on work related to legalizing single-stair housing for smaller lots, implementing congestion pricing, and building new rapid transit access as part of the Tobin Bridge rebuild project. The commenter also requested more public information about the regional rail and Red-Blue Connector projects. O. Saccocia stated that staff responded to this comment and plan to share it with the MPO’s partner agencies.
O. Saccocia also explained that staff made minor edits to the document to fix typos and formatting issues. Within the document, staff updated the name of the Regional Transportation Advisory Council to the Community Advisory Council, since the new, restructured council will be active when the FFY 2026 UPWP goes into effect. Staff also provided greater clarity within the section of the document that explains UPWP amendments, adjustments, and administrative modifications.
A motion to approve the draft FFY 2026 UPWP for presentation at the July 17, 2025, MPO board meeting was made by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (J. Wallerce) and seconded by the City of Boston (Jen Rowe). The motion carried.
J. Rowe said that the City of Boston is hosting its first Open Streets event of the year on Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury.
J. Wallerce stated that she will be leaving her role at MAPC at the end of October and will be working remotely for most of that time. She invited the group to join her farewell gathering at Harpoon on the Greenway on July 23.
C. Klem stated that the UPWP Committee will meet again in a few months to debrief this cycle of UPWP development. Staff will reach out when a date has been set.
A motion to adjourn was made by the Inner Core Committee (T. Bent) and seconded by the City of Boston (J. Rowe). The motion carried.
| Members |
Representatives and Alternates |
|---|---|
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Office of Transportation Planning) |
Chris Klem |
Metropolitan Area Planning Council |
Julia Wallerce |
At-Large City (City of Newton) |
David Koses |
City of Boston (Boston Transportation Department) |
Jen Rowe |
Inner Core Committee (City of Somerville) |
Tom Bent |
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce) |
Tom O’Rourke |
| Other Attendees |
Affiliation |
|---|---|
Donna Cotterell |
Town of Marblehead |
Erik Hinderlie |
City of Gloucester |
| MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff |
|---|
Tegin Teich, Executive Director |
Annette Demchur Dave Hong Elena Ion Stella Jordan Hannah Jun Ali Kleyman Lauren Magee Ibbu Quraishi Olivia Saccocia |
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