McLean County Regional Planning Commission
On episode #56 of the Building BN podcast, BNEDC CEO Patrick Hoban and Community Marketing Manager, Whitney Chesher sit down to speak with Raymond Lai, Executive Director, and Jennifer Sicks, Transportation Planner, from the McLean County Regional Planning Commission (MCRPC). The MCRPC, from their website, “partners with a diverse array of public and private entities. Through planning, we develop a vibrant sense of place using local policies and practices regarding land use, infrastructure, and community facilities.”
The MCRPC is the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for Bloomington-Normal. An MPO, as explained on the MCRPC website, is “a transportation policy-making body composed of representatives from local government and transportation implementers” which does “comprehensive, cooperative, and continuing transportation planning, including inclusive outreach for public input.” This planning work qualifies the Bloomington-Normal community to obtain federal transportation funding for projects in our community.
The MCRPC focuses on regional planning, Lai explains. He says, “Our surface area covers Bloomington Normal and the twenty rural communities in the area outside the urban Metro area… We work on continuing to build and work with our partners, our local partners, whether it's urban and in the rural areas and issues that are just not local, such as transportation planning—the roads don't stop at city limits and the town limits… We continue to look for opportunities to enhance the quality of life for our region.”
Listen to the entire podcast here, which includes challenges and successes the organization has experienced, Sicks’s and Lai’s must-see places in Bloomington-Normal, and their favorite local eats. Learn more about the MCRPC on their website at mcplan.org.
