CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement to form a Rural Planning Organization (RPO) with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to allow greater local input for planning road and bridge projects.
Until Thursday, the county was the only one in Pennsylvania that was not part of either an RPO or a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), said Michael Gismondi, a financial and contract manager for PennDOT. There are seven RPOs and 15 MPOs in the state, he said.
Franklin and Adams counties are the only ones with individual RPOs, Gismondi said.
"The department has been looking to establish this relationship with the county," Gismondi said. "It's going to really enable you to have an active role in planning."
PennDOT spends about $20 million a year on transportation projects in the county, County Planning Director Phil Tarquino said. A number of people have expressed interest in serving in the organization, which will likely have about nine members, he said.