LIVE COVERAGE: Workshops on long-range metro plan, 1 p.m.

People interested in charting the growth of metropolitan Cedar Rapids have a chance to weigh in Thursday.

The metro area's population is projected to increase by 94,000 over the next 30 years, and the Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization will hold two sessions Thursday to get citizen ideas on where to improve roads, sidewalks and bike trails and where to develop better public transportation.

The meetings matter because the MPO distributes about $3.6 million in federal transportation dollars each year, and administers one-time funding like the 2009 federal stimulus package. The organization maintains a 30-year transportation plan that must be updated every five years and governs which projects get money.

“Depending on what projects or what priorities you point out in the long-term plan, that's where the funding goes,” said Sushil Nepal, a planner for the Corridor MPO.

The plan also matters because it helps the region chart a sustainable path for growth. Haphazard road construction farther from the core of Cedar Rapids makes it difficult to pay for road improvements, and the region simply must make strategic choices, said Samantha Dahlby, a member of the MPO policy board.

“We can't just go around kind of piecing roads together, we need to have some sort of plan,” Dahlby said. “If we continue to grow and sprawl, that affects how much money we have to spend.”

Citizens can take part in an interactive exercise that will directly affect the long-range plan. Planners held a similar session in December, and hope for a better turnout Thursday.

The workshop, which officials are calling Connections2040 Future Scenarios, is at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 350 First Ave. NE, in Cedar Rapids. The first session is at 1 p.m.; the second is at 6 p.m.

Adam Belz will be live blogging from the workshop, beginning at 1 p.m.