Was pleased to re-connect with Mike Kozlosky the Executive Director of the Wilmington Urban Area Planning Organization to catch up on a number of subject matters.
We spent a good deal of time talking about the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the challenge of obtaining federal and state funding for transportation projects in the region.
You can also view this video on our YouTube channel.
About the MPO
The Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) was created in 1973 when our region reached a population density threshold of 50,000 people to constitute the federally-mandated creation of a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).
As a federally-mandated and federally-funded entity, the Wilmington MPO is tasked with providing a regional and cooperative transportation planning process that serves as the basis for the expenditure of all federal transportation funds in the greater Wilmington area. The WMPO is required to prepare long range transportation plans for the planning area with a minimum of a 20-year horizon. Additionally, the WMPO prepares an annual planning work program and assists with the prioritization of projects for inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Program (outlines NCDOT’s funding for a 10-year period).