Administration
- In 1966, the Bloomington and Normal combined population exceeded 50,000 people, and made our community eligible to establish an MPO serving a Metropolitan Planning Area (MPA)
- From April 1967 through May 1968, the organization of the RPC was defined by a 7-person steering committee; by-laws were adopted, the Commission was organized and adopted a Regional Service Agreement with the County, City and Town.
- In June 1967, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development certified MCRPC as the Areawide Review Agency for all applications for Federal funding in McLean County
- In January 1968, the McLean County Board formed MCRPC. The new RPC was also designated as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). 35 Commission members were appointed to the Regional Planning Commission to represent all the incorporated communities in McLean County
- In June 1968 the first executive director and principal planner were hired. Preparation began for development of a comprehensive regional plan for the County and management of the review process for Federally funded projects throughout the community.
- Initial funding came only from the local governments, with McLean County providing more than 49% of the total budget of $39,846 in the first year. By the end of 1969, 47% of the proposed 1970 budget came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- As of January 1969, the Areawide Review included the following projects:
- Bloomington, for the acquisition of land for Ewing Park expansion
- B-N Airport Authority construction of a runway extension
- McLean County, for expansion of the County Conservation Area
- Normal, for assistance in updating the Town comprehensive plan
- Funding was requested for improvement of portions of Route 66 to Interstate 55 standards through the County
- Tasks included planning services for Bloomington and Normal and surrounding communities, and the update of the McLean County Transportation Study. For the latter, geographic data was collected and inventories of economic factors, land use and population by location.
- Research was conducted regarding social characteristics of the community, transportation facilities and projected needs and financial resources for the transportation system.
- MCRPC began work on regional development policy standards, planning coordination, a regional facilities study, a regional housing analysis and a comprehensive plan for the Village of McLean.
- In 1969 the Commission structure revised from 35 members to 13 members appointed by McLean County, City of Bloomington, Town of Normal
Annual Reports
1969 - #1
1969 - #2
Administration
Regional Housing Initiatives
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MCRPC continued as the Areawide Review Agency for all federal funded projects’ consistency with regional and local plans, under Section 204 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966. Projects included Oversight of HUD submissions regarding low-income housing and multi-family housing development and the housing report
Comprehensive Planning
Social Service Planning
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Social Service Inventory
- Social services planning program
- Ongoing urban renewal projects
- Human Services Goals and Objectives Report
- Human Services Plan for McLean County
Infrastructure/ Environmental Planning
Special Projects
- Assistance during Library construction
- Bloomington Central Area Development Plan
- Normal Central Area Development Plan
- Bloomington Beautification Plan and Tree Planting Policy
- Administration of Manpower Plan grants
- Bloomington West Side Development Committee
- Continuing Technical Assistance
Annual Reports
1971 - #4
1972 - #5
1973 - #6
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
Administration
- Transportation funding began to outpace HUD funding, which ceased to be used by end of decade
- As of 1982 the number of planning staff had fallen to six
- Executive director Herman Dirks succeeded by former principal planner Ken Emmons
Regional Housing Initiatives
Transportation Planning
Social Service Planning
Infrastructure/ Environmental Planning
Data, Information and Mapping
Special Projects
Annual Reports
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Administration
- In 1992, MCRPC noted its 25th anniversary, and a reorganization of the structure of the commission and the professional staff to emphasize long-range planning issues and citizen involvement, in light of the very rapid growth of the community over the 25 years since the Commission was established.
- The decade was characterized by major staffing changes at MCRPC. In 1993, the Commission created an Executive Committee to expedite routine matters, and reformed the Commission membership to include the local school districts, the Airport Authority, and the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District.
- 1994, a new Executive Director, Paul Russell joined the staff, which he would lead until his retirement in 2013
Comprehensive planning
- 1990 land use survey of unincorporated McLean County
- Developed McLean County Comprehensive Plan
- Assisted the Town with their first Visioning project – Town of Normal 2015 report.
- Developed comprehensive plans for Danvers and LeRoy
Transportation planning
- Established Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZ) for use in transportation planning
- Conducted a survey of bus ridership for the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System (BNPTS)
- In 1994, the second Long-Range Transportation Plan was developed and adopted
- Initiated work on a regional travel demand model
- Carried out the development of a regional Bicycle-Pedestrian Plan
- Began an alignment study for Mitsubishi Motorway
- Transportation program included East Side Corridor feasibility study
- In 1999, an update of the Long Range Transportation Plan was completed
Data and Information and Mapping
- Joint aerial imagery project spearheaded by MCRPC as precursor to regional GIS development
- Served as the driving force in the creation of the McLean County GIS Consortium (MCGIS);
- Coordinated the joint development of a regional GIS
- Disseminated data from 1990 Census
- Prepared for the 2000 Census
Special Projects
- Historic Building survey for Bloomington
- A substantial grant contributed to the Solid Waste Needs Assessment
- Continued technical assistance to local planning work
- Created draft of regional water needs intergovernmental agreement
- Began the intergovernmental development review process in 1995
- Developed the Regional Greenways Plan, subsequently adopted by the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal, and McLean County
- Assisted in standardizing subdivision for Bloomington, Normal and McLean Counter
- Developed the Southwest Bloomington Plan in response to rapid growth
Annual Reports
1990
1991
1992
1993
1996
Administration
- In 2001, MCRPC and others executed the intergovernmental agreement creating the regional GIS consortium McGIS and establishing MCRPC as the lead agency
Comprehensive planning
Data and Information and Mapping
As McGIS got underway, early implementation included:
-
Aerial Photography
- ArcGIS Training
- Cadastral Mapping / Transition from Sidwell to GIS
- Digital Submittal of Plats
- Downs / Lexington Topographic Mapping Project
- E911 Addressing
- FEMA / Soils Data
- GIS Day
- GPS Integration
- Intranet Map Server
- Map Book
- Subscriptions / Data Pricing
- GIS staff continued ongoing tasks and added GPS Cost Estimates, Recorders Fee Increase Cost Justification Study, GIS Benefits Presentation to their tasks, Aerial Photography Distribution, Cadastral Maintenance, GPS Data Acquisition, Street Maintenance / Street Map; Voting Precinct Maps, the addition of a cadastral data annotation project and a PDF edition of the map book, new Orthophotography and LiDAR project with broader coverage of the County, development of a GIS Needs Assessment and Strategic Action Plan
Transportation planning
Administration
- Executive Director Paul Russell, AICP retired after 20 years heading MCRPC; The Commission than selected Vasudha Gadhiraju, AICP as the new Executive Director in August 2013, she left in 2019. Ray Lai was selected as new Executive Director in January 2020.
- Reinvented RPC as a regional partner and began engaging the community more broadly and deeply
- Developed an online and social media presence
Comprehensive planning
Transportation planning
Data, Information and Mapping
Regional Housing Initiatives
Special Projects
- Began partnership with the West Bloomington Revitalization Project
- Facilitated continued progress on the Historic Route 66 Trail and began membership on the Route 66 State Trail Executive Committee
- Completed a neighborhood plan for Dimmitt’s Grove Neighborhood; This plan was developed to serve as a template for other neighborhood plans in the community.