The East Alabama Rural Planning Organization (RPO) is responsible for facilitating rural transportation planning and consultation in accordance with agreements between the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission and the Alabama Department of Transportation or the United States Department of Transportation.

The RPO operates under the name “East Alabama Rural Transportation Planning Process” and covers the rural areas of Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Etowah, Randolph, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties, excluding areas within the Calhoun Area and Gadsden-Etowah Metropolitan Planning Organization study areas. Participation is open to all local governments that are members of the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission and are outside a Metropolitan Planning Organization study area.

Organizational Structure

The RPO consists of two primary committees:

• Regional Policy Committee:
  • Serves as the official decision-making body for the RPO.
  • Composed of all current members of the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission Board of Directors as voting members. Non-voting members include representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, Alabama Department of Transportation, and chairs of the Calhoun Area and Gadsden-Etowah MPOs.
  • Responsible for overall guidance, adoption of transportation goals, final approval of plans and programs, and ensuring citizen participation.
  • Meets at least quarterly; meetings are open to the public.
• Technical Advisory Committee:
  • Provides technical support and links planning with implementation.
  • Voting members include county engineers from each county in the study area and street superintendents, public works directors, or similar staff from each member municipality, as well as designated ALDOT pre-construction engineers.
  • Non-voting members include the Chair of the Regional Policy Committee, mayors of municipalities in the study area, and the Planning Director of the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.
  • Meets at least quarterly, typically before the Regional Policy Committee meeting; meetings are open to the public.

Appointments

The chief elected officer of each member community is asked to appoint, in writing, the member who will serve on both the Policy Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee.