The Committee on Roads and Right of Way voted Tuesday to recommend cooperation with the select board to form a consolidated Transportation Planning and Public Access Advisory Committee to advise on town and regional transportation plans.

The panel's endorsement, approved by roll call, follows a presentation from Mike Burns, the town's transportation manager, who described a proposed advisory body to advise on long-range transportation plans, the Transportation Improvement Program and the Unified Planning Work Program.

Burns said the proposal drew on models used on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard and would combine bicycle and pedestrian oversight with other transportation assets. "I shared those 2 examples of how it's done over The Vineyard and The Cape," Burns told the committee. He recommended a structure of nine voting members: two regional-appointed representatives and seven at-large members appointed by the select board.

The committee's recommendation asks the select board to consider a committee mission focused on public access and review of regional transportation documents. Chair Elise Apterstein said she would send a memo to the MPDC chair and the select board chair through the town manager reporting the committee's outcome.

Elise Apterstein, chair of the Roads and Right of Way Committee, put a motion on the table and Ed Gillum moved it; Rick Atherton seconded. The committee approved the motion in a roll call vote. The committee chair said she would forward the committee's recommendation to the MPDC and the select board for final consideration.

Committee members who participated in the discussion said they supported retaining regional representation on the panel and expanding the group's remit to include parking, freight, intersections and public outreach. Several members emphasized the committee should be able to review and offer input on the town's long-range transportation priorities rather than serve solely as a bicycle-and-pedestrian forum.

The select board is the decisionmaker; the committee's action is a recommendation to the board. Burns said he plans to present the proposal to the MPDC the following Monday and then share that group's recommendation with the select board.

The committee framed the consolidation as a procedural and organizational change to gather broader input on transportation projects and policy documents that are reviewed regionally and locally.

A follow-up by town staff and the MPDC will determine final committee composition and the select board will make appointments if it approves the change.