Draft Memorandum for the Record

Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Unified Planning Work Program Committee Meeting Minutes

January 8, 2026, Meeting

1:00 PM–2:30 PM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform

Sam Taylor, Chair, representing Phillip Eng, Interim Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)

Materials

Materials for this meeting included the following:

1. November 20, 2025, UPWP Committee Meeting Minutes (PDF)(HTML)

2. Transportation Impact Mitigation Program Description (PDF)(HTML)

Meeting Agenda

1. Introductions

Please see attendance beginning on page 6.

2. Public Comments

There were none.

3. Action Item: Approval of November 20, 2025, Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes was made by the Inner Core Committee (Tom Bent) and seconded by the Town of Arlington (Lenard Diggins). The motion carried.

4. Transportation Impact Mitigation Program Discussion—Lauren Magee, MPO Staff

L. Magee explained how the Transportation Impact Mitigation program supports the MPO’s efforts to evaluate and address risks of natural hazards that may affect the region’s transportation system. L. Magee shared more information on the MPO’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment, a project that will identify what transportation assets in the Boston region are at risk to environmental hazards. She explained the following:

· Three of the most common components of vulnerability are exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. These components can help planners create vulnerability scores.

· Vulnerability assessments can take various forms. For example, the MPO could produce an interactive application that shows vulnerability of specific roadway segments.

· Currently, MPO staff have completed a literature review, selected the assessment’s components, and created a stakeholder engagement plan.

· Future work includes coordination with peer agencies, selecting hazards of interest, conducting stakeholder engagement, and conducting the vulnerability analysis.

Discussion

Tom O’Rourke (Three Rivers Interlocal Council) shared that many municipalities have created their own vulnerability plans, and he asked if the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is planning to include these findings into the vulnerability analysis. L. Magee responded that MPO staff will be looking at these plans to collect data on what assets are most vulnerable within municipalities and what climate hazards are affecting municipalities the most.

Jen Rowe (City of Boston) asked L. Magee to clarify what transportation assets the assessment may look at. L. Magee explained that staff are planning to provide a comprehensive assessment of the region, analyzing assets such as bridges, roadways, culverts, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and the freight network. J. Rowe suggested that staff could coordinate with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to determine the vulnerability of transit assets in the region.

J. Rowe also asked if MassDOT’s Resiliency Improvement Plan will provide a framework to the MPO’s vulnerability assessment. L. Magee explained that the MPO’s assessment will be in line with MassDOT’s Resiliency Improvement Plan, and the outcome of the assessment will also contribute to the MPO’s project prioritization process.

Eric Bourassa (Metropolitan Area Planning Council) suggested that the project also include available funding sources for transportation infrastructure improvements, such as the federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development discretionary grant program.

Karl Alexander (Community Advisory Council) asked if the assessment will investigate how communities with vulnerable transportation assets are affected by environmental hazards. L. Magee clarified that the initial assessment would analyze risk to the asset itself, but staff are looking to determine equity impacts on the users or communities as well. L. Magee stated that staff are open to suggestions for how to conduct this work.

Dan Jaffee (Charlestown Resident) suggested that the assessment investigates how pollutants may be leached into sewers or waterways as a result of roadway or railroad flooding.

L. Diggins asked what role MassDOT takes in addressing regional asset vulnerability. S. Taylor mentioned that MassDOT has published a variety of tools on its website, including a flood risk assessment tool, among others.

L. Diggins asked if the assessment would address responses to short-term emergency weather situations or if that is work that the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency handles. L. Magee clarified that the MPO’s Regional Vulnerability Assessment will not address emergency preparedness related to short-term, extreme weather events.

E. Bourassa suggested that the assessment provides information on how assets compare to others in the region. He explained that it is helpful to know what assets are at the highest risk of flooding in the region, for example.

5. Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) Work Discussion—Eric Bourassa and Travis Pollack, MAPC Staff

E. Bourassa and T. Pollack provided information on MAPC’s recently completed UPWP-funded work. E. Bourassa briefly explained the programmatic areas of MAPC’s UPWP work, including subregional engagement, corridor subarea planning, alternative mode planning (e.g., bicycle and pedestrian planning), MetroCommon (MAPC’s regional land use and policy plan), and technical assistance.

E. Bourassa provided more detail about the work that MAPC staff have been doing to assist the City of Salem with a parking reform plan. MAPC staff collaborated with the city to collect parking data at 14 sites, and they found that one-third of available parking is unused. Staff helped the city connect with residents to explain the benefit of building residential developments with limited parking and helped to draft an ordinance to eliminate parking minimums. The ordinance was passed by Salem’s city council in September. E. Bourassa mentioned that MAPC plans to work with several other communities that expressed interest in developing parking reforms, starting with the City of Chelsea.

T. Pollack then described MAPC’s Burlington Mall Area Mobility Action Plan. The City of Burlington contacted MAPC for technical assistance with rezoning the area around the Burlington Mall. The goal of the project was to develop a single transportation plan for the mall area that improves walkability and provides better connections to transit. T. Pollack explained that MAPC staff helped develop the plan and the city has already started constructing Complete Streets through a MassDOT grant.

T. Pollack also explained MAPC’s Chelsea-Everett Greenway Connector work. Using funding from the UPWP and a grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, MAPC staff worked with a consultant to develop a plan to connect the end of the Chelsea Greenway to the Northern Strand Trail, next to Encore Casino in Everett. The first part of the plan laid out several options for connecting the trail network in Everett, which considered the several major development projects happening in the city. T. Pollack explained that staff will soon be working with the City of Chelsea to develop the connection on the Chelsea side of the trail network.

T. Pollack described a walk-bike-roll technical assistance project that MAPC staff are conducting in the towns of Bellingham, Franklin, Mendon, and Blackstone to develop a greenway. MAPC partnered with the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission for this project, and this work is expected to continue in 2026. T. Pollack also stated that MAPC staff have recently worked on a walk-bike-roll plan in Revere as well.

Lastly, T. Pollack explained how MAPC staff have partnered with the City of Boston to develop a long-term plan for how the Bluebikes system can support electrified stations in the future. This project leverages funding from a Congestion Relief Grant.

Discussion

S. Taylor noted the Burlington Mall Area Mobility Action Plan and asked if other municipalities have reached out to MAPC to conduct similar work. T. Pollack explained that no other communities have expressed interest in MAPC helping with a similar plan; however, MAPC staff researched the developments that have happened at Arsenal Yards in Watertown and Lynnfield Commons, which are good case studies for the Burlington Mall project.

D. Jaffe expressed concern about the traffic that would affect Charlestown after the soccer stadium in Everett is developed. He stated that he would like to see work to connect trail gaps between the Northern Strand and the Green Line Extension path.

J. Rowe stated that MAPC’s parking reform work in Salem draws comparisons to a UPWP discrete study proposal (Impact of Parking Supply on Property Values) that was considered for funding last year. J. Rowe asked if MAPC had considered partially funding work that would address this topic. E. Bourassa stated that he would follow up to discuss this further.

6. Members’ Items

There were none.

7. Next Meeting

Olivia Saccocia stated that the next UPWP Committee will be meeting on January 29, 2026, to discuss the potential discrete planning studies that could be incorporated into the upcoming UPWP.

8. Adjourn

A motion to adjourn was made by the City of Boston (J. Rowe) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (Hanna Switlekowski). The motion carried.

Attendance

Members	Representatives and Alternates
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (Office of Transportation Planning)	Sam Taylor
Metropolitan Area Planning Council	Travis Pollack
Metropolitan Area Planning Council alternate	Eric Bourassa
Community Advisory Council	Karl Alexander
At-Large City (City of Newton)	David Koses
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington)	Lenard Diggins
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
Three Rivers Interlocal Council alternate (Town of Westwood)	Steve Olanoff
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (City of Framingham)	Dennis Giombetti
MBTA Advisory Board	Hanna Switlekowski

Other Attendees	Affiliation
Erik Hinderlie	Town of Gloucester
Dan Jaffe	Charlestown resident
Allison Lenk
Scott Mullen	A Better City Transportation Management Association
Jon Seward
Lauren Siegel	City of Medford

MPO Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff
Annette Demchur
Dave Hong
Elena Ion
Ethan Lapointe
Ibbu Quraishi
Jia Huang
Lauren Magee
Olivia Saccocia
Rose McCarron

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Welcome. Bem Vinda. Bienvenido. Akeyi. 欢迎. 歡迎.

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