As climate change and extreme weather in the region intensify, there is an increased urgency to be proactive in hazard mitigation and adaptation planning. The region is projected to see an increase in the frequency and intensity of flooding, extreme heat, and cold fronts, which will affect the transportation network and those who use it. Identifying areas within the transportation network that are most vulnerable to hazards is an important step to increasing the resilience and redundancy of the transportation network.

The Resilience Improvement Plan (RIP) promotes surface transportation resilience to natural hazards such as climate change, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters by supporting planning activities, resilience improvement, and community resilience and evacuation routes. This plan aims to address immediate and long-range planning activities and investments related to resilience, demonstrate a systemic approach to resilience, and include a risk-based assessment of vulnerabilities to current and future weather events and natural disasters.

R1 is in the process of drafting and gathering essential data for the RIP, which will outline long-term resilience initaitives within the MPA boundary.