Midland, MI - Governor Rick Snyder has officially re-designated the Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA) of the Midland Area Transportation Study and the adjoining Saginaw Metropolitan Area Transportation Study to eliminate a previously existing boundary overlap.
The overlap in the planning area had caused difficulty for MATS in gathering and reporting data, as well as creating an inconsistency with the Midland Urbanized Area (UZA) boundary, which the MPA boundary is required by Federal regulations to completely encompass.
According to MATS Director Maja Bolanowska, "it will now be possible to present and analyze a great deal of data more consistently year after year, which will benefit transportation project selection and public understanding". The change in area will now better reflect the intent of the Federal Highway Administration regulations covering Metropolitan Planning Organizations as well.
If you have questions or comments regarding this or any issue, please contact MATS at info@midlandmpo.com or (989) 832-6333. For additional information, please visit www.midlandmpo.org.
About the Midland Area Transportation Study: MATS is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Midland Area, established in January 2013. MATS focuses on regional transportation planning services and helps to create intergovernmental cooperation. MATS is a policy-making agency, developing transportation plans and programming Federal-aid projects while providing public outreach regarding transportation issues.
