Planning Division

T​he Planning Division consists of three units with widely differing functions. The Grant Administration Unit manages federal transportation grant programs that provide funding for a variety of “non-traditional” projects, all of which are linked directly or indirectly to various modes of transportation. These grant programs include the Transportation Enh​​ancement, Safe Rou​tes to School, Recreational Trails, National Scenic Byways, and Transportation, Community, and Systems Preservation Programs.

The Statewide and Urban Studies Unit manages the development and maintenance of a long-range statewide transportation plan. In addition, this unit coordinates the West Virginia Department of Transportation’s involvement with Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) located in the state’s seven urbanized (above 50,000 population) areas, overseeing and providing technical assistance in meeting federal metropolitan transportation and air quality planning requirements.

The Modeling & Visualization Unit provides regional travel model support to the State’s Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the form of travel forecast model standardization, data gathering and manipulation, and other technical assistance. This unit also provides visualization services for the basic purpose of helping citizens, planners, designers, and decision-makers better understand highway projects. In addition, this unit provides landscape architecture services for various statewide projects including park-and-ride design, non-traditional grant project design, and roadside beautification design.

In addition to the three units described above, the separate Environmental Planning staff functions within the Planning Section to coordinate NEPA clearance for the Transportation Alternatives, Recreational Trails and other projects managed by the Grant Administration Unit, and provides planning/environmental linkage services for transportation studies conducted by the Statewide Planning Unit and for the Project Studies and Prioritization Section.

2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan

Learn More About the 2050 LRTP

Preliminary Engineering performs engineering studies of proposed highway projects and corridors. The scope usually includes development of alternative locations and their evaluation in terms of cost and various social, economic and environmental effects.

Research and Special Studies is responsible for administration of all Federal, State, and State Planning and Research (SPR) funded research projects.​