UPWP
The Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission (SNHPC) is one of nine Regional Planning Commissions in New Hampshire established under NH Revised Statutes Annotated (RSA) Chapter 36, and is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) serving 14 municipalities in the greater Manchester, New Hampshire area. The SNHPC’s planning area includes the entire Manchester Urbanized Area (UZA), parts of the Nashua UZA, and parts of the Boston UZA.
The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is a consolidated planning work program supported by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Metropolitan Planning (PL) funds, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5303 Metropolitan Planning funds, and FHWA State Planning and Research (SPR) funds. Federal funding supporting the UPWP is matched by a combination of turnpike toll credits administered by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) and matching funds provided by the SNHPC. The planning activities outlined in the UPWP have been designed to meet the requirements of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) Act, fulfill the local needs of the SNHPC region’s municipalities, and ensure consistency with the ten federally-designated metropolitan planning factors as well as Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs) defined by the FHWA New Hampshire Division and FTA Region 1.
In addition, the administration, scope of work, funding, and defined responsibilities in the UPWP are guided by the master Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NHDOT and New Hampshire’s four MPOs concerning the federal certification requirements for metropolitan planning organizations.