NCDOT Seeks Feedback on 10-Year Plan for Highways, Rail, Transit, Airports and Trails

The state is updating the blueprint it uses to spend billions on transportation each year, and now is the time for the public to weigh in.

The plan is a massive document called the STIP, the State Transportation Improvement Program. The latest version includes 3,921 projects the N.C. Department of Transportation intends to spend money on from 2024 through 2033.

Most involve roads and bridges, from repaving to building new freeways. But the list includes all means of getting around, from filling in a small gap in Raleigh’s Crabtree Creek greenway trail to helping build a new runway at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

NCDOT updates the STIP about every two years, removing projects that have been completed and usually adding new ones deemed worthy of doing in the coming decade.

But this time around, largely because of inflation, NCDOT started by not adding any new projects because it doesn’t expect to have enough money to complete all the ones included in the current STIP. Even then, many of the projects in the second half of the proposed 10-year plan won’t get started in the coming decade, said David Keilson, planning engineer for NCDOT’s Division 5, which includes Durham and Wake counties.

That’s true even with an infusion of money from last year’s federal infrastructure bill and the General Assembly’s decision this summer to begin diverting hundreds of millions in general sales taxes to NCDOT each year.

“The legislative changes, obviously, added significant funds,” Keilson said. “But they were still less than the anticipated shortfall.”

NCDOT is allowing regional transportation planners to replace local projects with ones considered more urgent, as long as the anticipated cost is about the same. This swapping process is under way now, Keilson said.

Added all up, the projects in the proposed STIP would cost $37.1 billion to build, said NCDOT spokesman Aaron Moody. That includes money from federal and other sources, Moody said, but doesn’t account for money NCDOT sets aside to account for inflation.

New format aims to make STIP easier to search

Also new this time around is the STIP’s format. In past years, NCDOT published the plan as a massive text file, with projects organized by the department’s 14 highway divisions. That document wasn’t user friendly, Joey Hopkins, NCDOT’s chief operating officer, told members of the state Board of Transportation earlier this year.

“We have heard from many of y’all, and many other folks we interact with, that the STIP document is very hard to read,” Hopkins said. “It’s hard to find projects in it.”

This year, for the first time, the STIP is now in an Excel spreadsheet, organized by county and searchable by geography and mode of transportation as well as individual project numbers.

“You can say, OK, I want to see all the highway projects in this county or I want to see the bike and pedestrian projects,” Hopkins said. “Or hey, I want to see all the ferry projects in the eastern half of state.”

A decade ago, the legislature and then Gov. Pat McCrory adopted a formula that grades and ranks big highway projects based on how much they would cut congestion and promote safety and economic development. Projects of regional or local significance are also evaluated that way, but NCDOT also weighs feedback from local governments and the public.

So while NCDOT relies on the formula for setting priorities, public feedback still matters, particularly on local projects.

For more information about the STIP, including links to the Excel file and an online survey, go to www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/stip/development/. The survey page has an interactive map that lets users see projects in their county or region. NCDOT will be taking feedback through 5 p.m. on Oct. 28.

Residents of NCDOT’s Division 5, which includes Wake, Durham, Franklin and Granville counties, can talk to Keilson this week, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., at the division’s office, 2612 North Duke St. in Durham or at 919-825-2637.

Residents of NCDOT’s Division 4, which includes Johnston County, can talk with Jennifer Collins, the division’s corridor development engineer, next week, Oct. 17 through 21, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 509 Ward Blvd. in Wilson. Collins also can be reached at 252-640-6436 or [email protected].

The state Board of Transportation is expected to approve the 2024-2033 STIP next spring.