Hernando/Citrus MPO Opens Public Review of Two-Year Transportation Plan

The Hernando/Citrus Metropolitan Planning Organization has released its draft Unified Planning Work Program for state fiscal years 2027 and 2028, kicking off a 30-day public review window that opens April 3 and closes just 35 days later when the MPO board meets May 7 to vote on adoption.

The document is less glamorous than a ribbon-cutting but arguably more consequential: it is the MPO's line-item budget for all federally funded transportation planning work across Hernando and Citrus counties from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028. Under federal law, an MPO must have an adopted UPWP to remain eligible for FHWA and FTA grant dollars, which means the work program is the gateway through which virtually every federally assisted road, transit, and trail study in the two-county region must pass.

The draft catalogs planning tasks across several categories that translate directly into outcomes on local roads. Corridor studies and safety audits determine which congestion pinch points, such as Cortez Boulevard, get engineering analysis and grant applications before competing jurisdictions claim limited FDOT funding. Transit planning elements set the analytical groundwork for any future expansion of Hernando County's transit services. Multimodal and active-transportation studies, including pedestrian and bicycle connectivity work in Spring Hill, position those projects to qualify for federal transportation alternatives funding. The MPO's congestion management process feeds directly into which corridors appear in the Transportation Improvement Program, the document that actually schedules construction dollars.

That sequencing is the reason the 30-day review period carries real weight. The UPWP does not authorize construction, but projects that receive staff time and study resources during these two fiscal years build the documentation and federal compliance record needed to advance into the TIP and compete for FDOT construction funding. Projects absent from the UPWP face a steeper climb. Once the board votes May 7, the scope is effectively set for the two-year cycle.

MPO Executive Director Bob Esposito's office is accepting written comments through May 7 at mpo@hernandocounty.us, by phone at (352) 754-4082, or by mail at 789 Providence Boulevard, Brooksville, FL 34601. The draft is available online at HernandoCitrusMPO.us and in person at that Brooksville office during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Specific, pointed questions carry the most weight in UPWP comment periods. Asking why a particular safety hotspot is or is not included in a corridor study task, or requesting that staff add a specific transit technical analysis, gives board members something actionable to respond to before adoption. Generic support or opposition rarely moves the needle. The MPO is also required under its Title VI and public participation obligations to make materials accessible to underserved communities and to document how public input was considered before the board votes, so written comments submitted during the review window become part of the official record.