Help Determine Your Priority Projects in WNC Public comments sought on transportation projects

PRESS RELEASE
NCDOT



SYLVA – North Carolinians are invited to a public meeting June 11 or 12 to express their opinions about which regional and local  transportation projects in the 10-county Division 14 area should be top priorities in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) – a 10-year plan that identifies funding for projects and schedules them for construction.

The N.C. Department of Transportation combines data and local input to determine which projects will get built, using a formula established in the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law to focus funding on projects that will reduce congestion, improve safety and promote economic growth.

NCDOT Division 14 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk, Swain Transylvania counties), will hold informal public meetings from 5-7 p.m., on Monday, June 11, at Hayesville First United Methodist Church, 989 U.S. 64 Business, Hayesville, N.C. 28904 and on Tuesday, June 12 at Grace Community Church, 495 Cardinal Road, Mills River, N.C. 28732.

Citizens are invited to stop in and provide input on how the division plans to rank its project priorities. Please note that these meetings are not for maintenance projects, such as patching potholes, resurfacing roads or improving ditches.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for anyone with disabilities who wants to participate in the public meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact Lauren Putnam, Public Involvement Officer, at 919-707-6072 or by email at lnputnam1@ncdot.gov as early as possible, so that these arrangements can be made.

Other Ways to Participate

During a public comment period that runs from June 4 through July 9, NCDOT is collecting feedback from citizens who express their views at public meetings across the state, online, by phone or in writing. 

Starting June 4, citizens can provide input through the STI website (ncdot.gov/sti).  Citizens can complete a short, interactive survey to identify priority projects, sor send a message to their local division planning engineer. 

The online survey features an interactive state map with the proposed projects up for funding.  Citizens can review project information and provide feedback on which projects they think are important.

The STI website provides the phone numbers and postal addresses of local division planning engineers, for citizens who want to comment on transportation projects by telephone or mail.

In Division 14, contact Division Planning Engineer Steve Williams (828) 586-2141 or 253 Webster Road, Sylva N.C., 28779.

In April, NCDOT released data scores for more than 2,100 transportation improvement projects across the state, in the first round of an evaluation process to determine which projects will be scheduled for construction.  Also in April, NCDOT identified 77 high-scoring Statewide Mobility projects that will be programmed for funding over the next decade.

Next Steps

After the comment period ends on July 9, NCDOT will combine the data scores and local input to produce the total project scores. A draft list of the top-scoring Regional Impact projects is scheduled for release in August. A similar process for local input will take place in the fall for local Division Needs projects. 

Once all project scores are finalized, the top-scoring projects will be programmed for construction based on available funding. Other factors may determine whether a project ultimately moves to construction, including the completion of environmental and engineering plans, corridor spending limits prescribed by law, and other federal and state funding restrictions.

This information will be used to create the next STIP for the years 2020-2029. NCDOT will release a draft STIP for public comment in January 2019. The final 2020-2029 STIP is expected to be adopted by the N.C. Board of Transportation in June 2019.

The STI law, enacted in 2013, established a data-driven process that allows NCDOT to invest transportation dollars more efficiently and effectively.  NCDOT updates the STIP approximately every two years to ensure that it accurately reflects the state's current financial situation.

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