Brownfields are abandoned or under-utilized industrial and commercial properties with actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment.
Tri-County staff help communities redevelop Brownfield properties such as vacant factories and former gas stations. Because Brownfield redevelopment can involve environmental, financial, legal, and property-related challenges, local governments often benefit from technical guidance and support. Tri-County staff meet with community leaders to:
We want your feedback on how to make walking and biking a better experience in the Village.
Scan the QR Code with your Phone or click HERE to be directed to the survey.
If you don't like taking surveys online, pick up a copy of the survey at Village Hall at 216 Holland Rd and return it when filled.
The Village of Germantown Hills and Tri-County Regional Planning Commission are creating an active transportation plan for the village after identifying a need and desire to improve walking and biking in Germantown Hills as part of its comprehensive planning process in 2025.This plan aims to improve active transportation safety, accessibility, comfort and connectivity in Germantown Hills. Active transportation is any form of human powered transportation including walking cycling, using a wheelchair, or skateboarding. Proposed active transportation improvements will be prioritized to help the village and partner agencies complete the most important improvements and connections first, ensuring a systematic development of future walking and biking networks.
Health
Walking and biking for transportation provides an opportunity to regularly engage in physical activity, potentially reducing obesity and mortality risk from conditions associated with inactivity. Regular exercise and time spent outdoors can also improve mental health, especially considering the social benefits of increased neighborhood interactions compared to time spent in a motor vehicle. SafetyWhen active transportation infrastructure is designed properly many safety benefits can be had for not only pedestrians and cyclists but also for drivers. Oftentimes projects result in lower vehicle speeds which lead to fewer crashes and in the event of a crash, less of a chance for injury or fatality for all involved. Many active transportation projects look to separate cyclists and pedestrians from cars either through sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, or other means which results in fewer conflicts with traveling vehicles. If these projects are designed properly and generate more pedestrian and bicycle trips, drivers then become more aware of the change in behavior and become more attentive of areas that see frequent active transportation use. EnvironmentA well developed active transportation network supports the environment by replacing car trips with low impact, human powered travel. Walking and biking reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and lessen the need for energy intensive road maintenance. Communities can dedicate less land to wide roads and parking lots, allowing more space for parks and green infrastructure, ultimately reducing noise pollution and creating calmer communities.
SUMMARY:Germantown Hills Active Transportation Plan ORGANIZER: URL;VALUE=URI:https://tricountyrpc.org/ghatp/ TRANSP:OPAQUE BEGIN:VALARM ACTION:DISPLAY TRIGGER:-PT15M DESCRIPTION:Reminder for Germantown Hills Active Transportation Plan END:VALARM END:VEVENT BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Tri County Regional Planning Commission //NONSGML Events //EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Tri County Regional Planning Commission BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CREATED:20260304T195851Z UID:25686 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:19700101T010000 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago: DTSTAMP:20260609T091308Z LOCATION: DESCRIPTION:The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission's Fiscal Year 2027 Unified Planning Work Program. As the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Tri-County Regional Planning Commission maintains the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) to budget and document proposed transportation planning activities. A new document is developed each fiscal year. SUMMARY:FY 2027 Unified Planning Work Program ORGANIZER: URL;VALUE=URI:https://tricountyrpc.org/document/fy2027-upwp/ TRANSP:OPAQUE BEGIN:VALARM ACTION:DISPLAY TRIGGER:-PT15M DESCRIPTION:Reminder for FY 2027 Unified Planning Work Program END:VALARM END:VEVENT BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Tri County Regional Planning Commission //NONSGML Events //EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Tri County Regional Planning Commission BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CREATED:20260226T222433Z UID:25628 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:19700101T010000 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago: DTSTAMP:20260609T091308Z LOCATION: DESCRIPTION:
Have Your Say:
MPO Federal Certification Review
March 10, 2026
The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission will host its next Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Federal Certification Review on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 456 Fulton Street, Peoria, IL, Room 420. Federal reviewers will arrive at 8:30 a.m., with the first agenda item starting at 9:00 a.m., and the review is expected to conclude by 12:30 p.m.
Certification Review Details
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Location: 456 Fulton St, Room 420
Peoria, IL 61602
Arrival: 8:30 a.m.
First Agenda Item: 9:00 a.m.
Expected Conclusion: 12:30 p.m.
This review, conducted jointly by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, evaluates the region’s metropolitan transportation planning process to ensure it meets federal requirements. Part of the Certification Review process is a 30-day public comment period, which will be open from Monday, March 2, 2026 through Wednesday, April 1, 2026. Community members, stakeholders, and transportation system users are encouraged to share feedback on how the region plans and prioritizes transportation investments.
You can learn more and participate by completing the Public Comment Survey available on TCRPC’s Federal Certification Review webpage:
https://tricountyrpc.org/transportation/federal-certification-review/
Public Comment Period
Duration: March 2 - April 1, 2026
How to Comment: Survey or Written Comments
Written comments may also be submitted directly to Mark Kane at the FTA or Anna Musial at the FHWA.
Mark Kane
Federal Transit Administration
Region V
200 West Adams Street, Suite 320
Chicago, IL 60606-5253
312-353-1552
mark.kane@dot.gov
Anna Musial
Federal Highway Administration
Illinois Division
130 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Ste. A
Springfield, IL 62703
217-492-4620
anna.musial@dot.gov
Accessibility in the field of planning and development has, for some time, been treated as an afterthought. The built environment around us has been planned, designed, engineered, and only after its construction, retrofitted to be just good enough to meet compliance standards with various local, state, and federal guidelines.
This phenomenon (which is not at all unique to the region) can be largely attributed to the fact that infrastructure in the United States had been built around the use of the automobile, without much consideration for pedestrians.
In those cases where accessibility is thought of first, it is often avoidantly and reluctantly, not due to personal opposition among those responsible for enacting policy, but because of persistent structural and financial barriers. After all, it can be prohibitively expensive to reconstruct infrastructure in a way that aligns with this new understanding of the transportation landscape.
This mindset is slowly changing as organizations and agencies evolve to recognize that accessibility must remain at the forefront of any of their services, activities, or programs. And further, agencies are recognizing that the best way to address accessibility barriers is by confronting and planning for them, not by avoiding them in fear of punitive action from superior regulatory bodies.
Fortunately, there are documents that allow organizations to do precisely this. Program Access Plans and Transition Plans are the future of accessibility in public agencies.
Without the proper infrastructure, local residents may be less likely to ride the bus. The residents that do ride the bus may do so because they do not possess a car, or their disability prohibits them from driving. Improving bus stops is a major way to increase ridership and provide a safe, secure, and accessible method of travel for those who depend on it in their daily lives.
Tri-County staff visited all 887 stops in the GPMTD (CityLink) service area to assess the conditions and level of service provided at each of the stops. This helped to establish a baseline from which external data can be added. Staff reviewed each stop as its own piece of infrastructure rather than as a series of connected parts, each controlled and connected by various government agencies.
The main goal of the Bus Stop Accessibility Plan is to prioritize stops for improvement and make it easier for the local transit agency (GPTMD) to request funding.
Prioritization will be accomplished by compiling data from the inventory and external sources to generate a list of stops in order of priority.
The BSAP Showcase is an upcoming Spring event intended to share planning progress with the public and provide a forum for subject matter experts to talk about everything from advocacy for accessibility to the pieces of infrastructure that make accessibility possible.
The BSAP Open House was an opportunity for the public to provide input and engage with the decision-making process.
Tri-County staff tabled at the fourth annual ADA Wow event hosted by CityLink.
You can scan the QR code or click the button below to take the survey to let us know how you feel about the bus system in the Greater Peoria Area.
BSAP SURVEY SUMMARY:Bus Stop Accessibility Plan ORGANIZER: URL;VALUE=URI:https://tricountyrpc.org/bsap/ TRANSP:OPAQUE BEGIN:VALARM ACTION:DISPLAY TRIGGER:-PT15M DESCRIPTION:Reminder for Bus Stop Accessibility Plan END:VALARM END:VEVENT BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Tri County Regional Planning Commission //NONSGML Events //EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Tri County Regional Planning Commission BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CREATED:20251121T171912Z UID:24872 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:19700101T010000 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago: DTSTAMP:20260609T091308Z LOCATION: DESCRIPTION:
Tri-County strategically identifies the most regionally significant transportation initiatives—projects with the greatest potential to advance safety, enhance quality of life, and strengthen economic vitality across the region. These efforts range from major highway construction to studies of regional recreational trails, all leveraging transportation as a catalyst for economic development.
Although Tri-County does not own or manage roadways, the MPO serves as a regional convener and advocate for these priority projects. Acting on behalf of the urbanized area, we collaborate with municipal and agency partners to support fundraising efforts and foster intergovernmental coordination that turns vision into reality.
Regional Trail Network Expansion
Regional Transit System SUMMARY:Regional Project Prioritization ORGANIZER: URL;VALUE=URI:https://tricountyrpc.org/regionalprioritization/ TRANSP:OPAQUE BEGIN:VALARM ACTION:DISPLAY TRIGGER:-PT15M DESCRIPTION:Reminder for Regional Project Prioritization END:VALARM END:VEVENT BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Tri County Regional Planning Commission //NONSGML Events //EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:Tri County Regional Planning Commission BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT CREATED:20251020T141518Z UID:24842 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:19700101T010000 DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago: DTSTAMP:20260609T091309Z LOCATION: DESCRIPTION: