N.C. Board of Transportation Adopts New 10-Year Capital Plan

 PRESS RELEASE (06-06-2023)
NORTH CAROLINA DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION

CHARLOTTE – The N.C. Department of Transportation has officially refreshed its guide that shows how and when transportation projects are expected to be funded over the next decade.

The N.C. Board of Transportation adopted the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for fiscal years 2024-2033 during its board meeting in Charlotte on Tuesday. It is anticipated local planning organizations will approve their portions of the plan this summer, followed by approval by the Federal Highway Administration by September.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the STIP in North Carolina. The 1973 version was about 50 pages long and featured about 200 highway projects, expected to cost $200 million over seven years. The 2024-2033 STIP is composed of more than 2,300 projects across all six modes of transportation, projected to cost about $35 billion over the next 10 years.

NCDOT typically updates the STIP every two years, but the 2024-2033 STIP was developed under unusual circumstances. 

The Department uses a transparent, data-driven process for prioritizing projects as required by the Strategic Transportation Investments law of 2013. Typically, there is a round of project prioritization in which projects are scored and ranked at the statewide, regional and division levels, based on approved criteria such as safety, congestion, benefit cost and local priorities.

For this STIP, however, rising material and labor costs impacted NCDOT’s ability to program new projects. Instead, projects from previous rounds of prioritization that were included in the 2020-2029 STIP were used to develop a new plan that better aligns with financial expectations for the next 10 years, making it more reliable for the Department and its partners.

The STIP also has a new look this year. NCDOT staff built the plan in a spreadsheet that is more user friendly than the PDF from years past.

Staff is also developing an interactive map-based application to make it easier for people to find information on projects that interest them.

To learn more about the STIP and view the latest edition, visit ncdot.gov.