Released in 2011, NIRPC’s 2040 Comprehensive Regional Plan represented the first time NIRPC engaged all three counties in a “Vision Plan,” which was developed as a comprehensive, citizen-based regional vision guiding the development of land use and transportation programming. As such, it presented a policy program with strong coordination and implementation elements. The 2040 Plan Update Companion was subsequently released in 2015. By 2019, NWI 2050 was released with four Key Elements that envisioned our Region as Connected, Renewed, United, and Vibrant. Each of these elements was further analyzed using four Focus Areas: Economy & Place, Environment, Mobility, and People & Leaders. The results produced action plans to address several possible future states so that these policies could engage those stakeholders best suited to implement them.
NIRPC updated NWI 2050 as NWI 2050+, keeping the same horizon year and emphasizing planning areas involving active transportation, public transit, freight movements, and land use impacts. During the summer of 2022, a robust public engagement phase was conducted to collect data from region residents regarding their feedback regarding the future of NWI per the plan’s focus areas.
