Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is holding an open grant round for $11 million in Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants from February 1-March 15, 2022. LWCF is reimbursement program for the acquisition and/or development of public outdoor recreation areas.

All LWCF assisted areas must be maintained and opened, in perpetuity, as public outdoor recreation areas. The LWCF is a 50-50 percent matching reimbursement program. An updated program manual, application materials, and applicant resources are available at: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational-planning/lwcf

Transportation needs in the Harrisonburg Rockingham region are changing, and the Harrisonburg Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization (HRMPO) is offering residents an exciting opportunity to share community priorities that will shape the future of the region’s transportation network.

HRMPO, which is staffed by CSPDC, is providing several ways for residents to convey input that will guide the development of the region’s 2045 long range transportation plan (LRTP) over the next year.

HRMPO is working with Avid-Core, a strategic communications firm based in Northern Virginia. Avid-Core will support the HRMPO throughout the 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan process with a three-phase Public Engagement Plan. Avid-Core and MPO staff have developed a multi-media strategy to engage with the region’s diverse communities, and to raise the MPO’s profile as the regional transportation planning body charged with implementing a collaborative, comprehensive process for investing in transportation improvements. During February, 2022, Avid-Core is helping the HRMPO promote the online Visioning Survey, which will inform priorities in the 2045 Long Range Plan.

The LRTP will cover all modes of transportation across the City of Harrisonburg, the towns of Bridgewater, Dayton, and Mt. Crawford, and portions of Rockingham County. The first phase of the LRTP process is visioning. Residents are invited to:

• Fill out the online visioning survey between February 1 and March 2, 2022.
• Tune into the webinar on February 16, 2022 at 7 p.m. or watch the recording on-demand.

HRMPO 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan from CSPDC on Vimeo.

The community priorities identified in the survey will guide which transportation projects are considered in the LRTP, and to develop the evaluation criteria for projects.

Visit hrvampo.org/lrtp for more information and to sign up to receive email updates on the LRTP.

Over the last several months the GO Virginia Region 8 Shenandoah Valley Sites Enhancement Project has been making quick progress in completing necessary due diligence on significant and attractive sites throughout the region. The project will expand our region’s capacity to attract new business investment by advancing the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Business Ready Tier level for sites located throughout the Shenandoah Valley. Activities include wetlands delineation, geotechnical exploration, boundary survey, topographical survey, cultural resource review, threatened and endangered species review, Phase 1 environmental site assessment and master planning. Our region’s close proximity to interstate, rail, and airline transportation, as well as the Port of Virginia makes the Valley a well-suited location for new or expanded business, however, lack of ready-sites has been a significant reason for loss of prospects in the past. Project completion is expected by Q2 of 2022.