The Capital Region Transportation Council is accepting comments on both documents through May 20, 2026.
ALBANY, NY April 2, 2026 – The Planning Committee of the Capital Region Transportation Council (Transportation Council) approved a Draft Public Participation Plan and Draft Air Quality Conformity Determination Document for public review. The Public Participation Plan and Air Quality Conformity Determination are required core planning activities per Transportation Council policies and federal regulations. Comments on the draft documents are due on May 20, 2026.
A Virtual Workshop – Public Participation and Air Quality Conformity at the Transportation Council will be held via Zoom webinar on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 12pm. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_07V0SJKcT9OF0wIX2iXdkw. The session will be recorded and posted on the Transportation Council’s YouTube channel following the event.
Visit us during our Open House on Thursday, April 16, 2026 from 4pm – 6pm to ask questions, raise concerns, or make suggestions. Pre-registration is not required. Our Open House will be held at the Transportation Council office, 1 Park Place, Suite 101, Albany, NY 12205.
The Draft Public Participation Plan articulates the Transportation Council’s guiding principles for public participation in the metropolitan transportation planning process. The methods identified are drawn from legal requirements, local knowledge, and lessons learned from prior outreach and engagement. The goals of the public participation process are to be:
Continuous: Outreach and engagement should result in community contributions in the earliest stages of, and throughout, a project, study, or other planning activity. Community contributions should be part of an ongoing relationship outside of the specific planning activity.
Thorough: Outreach and engagement should be comprehensive, providing many options for how a person can be notified and get involved, with consideration for how an array of different modes of engagement can reach as broad of an audience as possible.
Inclusive: Outreach and engagement should encourage diverse viewpoints and values to be integrated into the decision-making processes, incorporate community-initiated efforts into planning processes, proactively incorporate a broad representation of the community, and use engagement methods that are responsive and accommodating to a broad spectrum of the community.
Effective: Engagement should demonstrate broad reach, representation, and contribution to the decision-making process. Engagement should be evaluated to assess effectiveness and bold, innovative, and/or creative strategies or methods are encouraged to improve efforts.
The Draft Air Quality Conformity Determination for the seven-county Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ozone nonattainment area documents that the involved agencies have completed the transportation conformity process and confirms that the Transportation Council and the Adirondack/Glens Falls Transportation Council Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs) and long-range transportation plans, and projects in the non-urbanized portion of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area meet all applicable transportation conformity requirements as required under the Clean Air Act.
Amendments to the project list in the Transportation Council’s metropolitan transportation plan are being proposed, necessitating an update of the Air Quality Conformity Determination. The Reimagining I-787 project is moving from an illustrative project, one with no funding commitment, to fiscally-constrained, one with some funding commitment for design and implementation as NYSDOT advances the project through the pre-Environmental Impact Statement process leading to a Notice of Intent (NOI) in late 2026 or early 2027. The I-787 project is anticipated to be non-exempt for air quality, thereby requiring an Environmental Impact Statement.
Additional information about the plans and methods to provide comments are available on the Transportation Council’s website at:
- Draft Public Participation Plan: https://www.capitalmpo.org/ppp2026
- Draft Air Quality Conformity Determination: www.capitalmpo.org/aqc
The Final Public Participation Plan and Air Quality Conformity Determination revisions are expected to be approved at the Transportation Council’s June 4, 2026 Policy Board meeting.
To request auxiliary aids, services, reasonable accommodations, or oral language interpretation for either the Virtual Workshop or the Open House, contact us at (518) 458-2161 or info@capitalmpo.org. Requests must be made at least 48 hours prior to the event.
For more information about transportation planning activities at the Transportation Council, visit www.capitalmpo.org. Follow and like the Transportation Council on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
About the Transportation Council
The Capital Region Transportation Council is the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the geographic area of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady Counties (except the Town of Moreau and Village of South Glens Falls). The Transportation Council facilitates a transportation planning process as required by federal law and supported with federal funding.
The Transportation Council is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, its metropolitan transportation planning process on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, economic status, or sexual orientation.
If information is needed in another language, contact 518-458-2161 or send an e-mail to info@capitalmpo.org.
Si se necesita información en otro idioma, llame al teléfono 518-458-2161 o bien enviando un correo electrónico a info@capitalmpo.org.
如欲获得其他语言的相关信息，请联系：518-458-2161，或发送电子邮件至：info@capitalmpo.org。
إذا كنت بحاجة إلى المعلومات بلغة أخرى، فيُرجى التواصل مع الرقم 518-458-2161 أو إرسال رسالة بريد إلكتروني إلى info@capitalmpo.org
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