By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The Guam Department of Public Works has released the list of new islandwide road projects under the Transportation Improvement Plan or GTIP for fiscal years 2024-2027.
Guam officials said GTIP was prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Act."
“This GTIP provides a near-term improvement plan that is financially feasible, fiscally constrained, and reflects the highway projects that the DPW prioritizes for the expenditure of federal funds for the noted fiscal period,” states the department’s plan.
Funding for the proposed projects will come from several sources, but largely from the federal National Highway System, the Infrastructure Act, Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles or GARVEE bon, Defense Access Road and other federal grant programs. The department estimates to obtain a total of $340.7 million from these funding sources.
The GTIP is an adjunct to the 2030 Guam Transportation Plan, Guam's 20-year transportation strategy, which was finalized in December 2008 and presented a long-term strategy to improve transportation throughout Guam.
“The plan forecasted traffic growth through the year 2030 and included impacts associated with the potential U.S. Department of Defense build-up as it was understood at the time the 2030 GTP was produced, the department said.
The Department of Public Works will be holding a public meeting on the Guam Transportation Improvement Plan on Monday, Sept. 25 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Sinajana Community Center.Originally, the Department of Defense planned to relocate 9,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. The relocation plan has since been scaled down and the number of Marines to be sent to Guam has been reduced to 5,000.
“To capture this change in traffic forecast and to document an analysis of traffic safety on Guam, the 2019 Traffic Safety and Operation Study was developed,” the department said.
The list of projects is a product of a consensus building process with decision-making supported by data-driven analysis that was carried out by the DPW in cooperation with local villages, utility providers, the local government agencies, and Federal government agencies,” the department said.
Projects were selected to address safety issues, including issues from flooding on Guam’s roadway system, pavement, and bridge conditions, and provide traffic operational improvements.
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