NCDOT Releases Draft State Transportation Improvement Program | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C. - Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Tony Tata today told State Board of Transportation that 303 additional projects will be fully or partially funded and about 126,000 more jobs will be created under the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law, which created the Strategic Mobility Formula. The new funding formula was a major initiative achieved by Governor McCrory during the last legislative session.

    The results of the new funding formula were contained in the Draft 10-year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which was presented at the transportation board's monthly meeting. This is one of the final steps toward implementing the new STI law.

    "I'm pleased that the transportation law and vision, which is based on economic development, safety, and congestion instead of politics, is working as intended and exceeding our expectations," said Governor McCrory. "Over the next 10 years, this new law and vision will help create thousands of new jobs, invest millions in our communities, and better connect all North Carolinians to work, life and play. This is just the beginning and we will continue to build our infrastructure from the mountains to the coast, rural to urban, which will better connect people to jobs, education, and health care.

    Using the new formula over 10 years, NCDOT will fund 478 highway projects and create 300,000 jobs. Using the same existing funds, the old formula would have produced 175 highway projects and 174,000 jobs.

    The Draft STIP includes a total of nearly 1,100 projects across all transportation modes and in every county across the state, making this one of our most comprehensive programs ever.

    "Through the new formula, we will invest in our entire transportation network from the mountains to the coast, with crews actively working in all 100 counties over the next 10 years," said Secretary Tony Tata. "These projects will improve safety, reduce congestion and strengthen connections to make our state more economically competitive."

    More than 140 non-highway projects are funded in all, along with another 108 major transition projects that were already scheduled to begin prior to July 1, 2015. The Draft STIP also includes 389 interstate maintenance and bridge projects, and 17 safety projects prioritized under alternate criteria. A breakdown of the project numbers can be found here.

    The Strategic Mobility Formula was specifically designed to direct 60 percent of the available funding to improvements on the regional and local levels to ensure that we are meeting the varied needs of the communities throughout our state-with the remaining 40 percent going to projects of statewide significance that will benefit all North Carolinians.

    Examples include:

• Completing the Fayetteville Outer Loop to connect Fort Bragg to the Strategic I-95 Corridor and enhance mobility options for our military.
• Expanding U.S. 321 between Lenoir and Hickory, which will improve this key regional corridor and better connect the northwestern part of our state to Charlotte and I-85.
• Improving I-85 in Gaston County and removing the two-lane bottleneck in southern Rowan County, which will enhance this important route for commuters to Charlotte, as well as help move goods more efficiently to and from Charlotte and the Greenville-Spartanburg area.
• Expanding N.C. 211 to the coastal towns of Southport and Oak Island and improve their connection to the U.S. 17 corridor, which will help relieve congestion during the busy tourist season and improve an important evacuation route.

    While scores for projects on the statewide level are 100-percent data-driven, scores for projects on the regional and division levels also include local input ‒ 30 percent of the total score on the regional level and 50 percent on the division level - to ensure that local priorities are addressed.

    Projects also have the ability to cascade down for funding, so projects that were evaluated on the statewide level that did not score high enough to be funded also had the opportunity to compete on the regional and division levels.

    Examples include:

• N.C. 24/27 widening in Stanly County - This project will widen to four lanes N.C. 24/27 from the existing four lanes in Albemarle to the Pee Dee River, as well as replace one of the two bridges that connects Stanly and Montgomery counties. Its regional score was helped, because both the Rural Planning Organization and division gave the project the maximum regional points.
• Mid-Currituck Bridge in Currituck County - This project will build a bridge between the Currituck County mainland and Corolla, which will address local needs by alleviating congestion on U.S. 158 and N.C. 12, and better connect the Outer Banks to the Hampton Roads region in Virginia. Its division level score was helped, because both the RPO and division gave the project the maximum number of points.

    Next Steps

    NCDOT will hold a public comment period and public meetings in March and April to seek input on the Draft STIP. The Board of Transportation is expected to approve the Final 2016-2025 STIP in June 2015, which will be the final step in implementing STI.

    STI's data-driven prioritization process is increasing our efficiency in using Highway Trust Fund money to program more projects; however, of the 3,100 projects submitted through STI, NCDOT will only have enough funding to program 559 projects, or 18 percent of the locally submitted needs.

    With the implementation of the new STI law and mobility formula, and Gov. McCrory's 25-Year Vision in place to map our future and guide transportation investments over the next 25 years, NCDOT's focus will now turn to investing in the vision. We plan to present targeted revenue recommendations to the General Assembly for action during the 2015 legislative session. Discussions about transportation funding will focus on the role of the state in supporting the costs of maintaining and building transportation infrastructure, as well as alternative funding solutions to support our growing state and make North Carolina even more economically competitive.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov