For Immediate Release
July 18, 2024
Contact: Judy Dellert, CRTPO
Public input begins on THE CRTPO’s local input point assignment
for Regional Impact projects under NCDOT’s Prioritization 7.0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (July 18, 2024) – The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) opened a 14-day public comment period, beginning Thursday, July 18, 2024, requesting public input on the next stage of developing the 2026-2035 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The CRTPO is seeking feedback on the future Regional Impact transportation project lists for Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Union Counties. The process to develop the 2026-2035 TIP is administered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and is called Prioritization 7.0 (P7.0). The public comment period will be open until Thursday, August 1, 2024.
Highway, aviation, rail, and transit projects are all represented on the draft lists and maps proposed for Regional Impact local input point assignment, and can be found on the CRTPO website 2026-2035 TIP Development page. Regional Impact highway projects consist of U.S. and North Carolina routes (i.e., US 21, US 521, NC 49, and NC 200);unfunded Statewide Mobility aviation and highway projects, as well as Regional Impact transit and rail projects. Beginning in October 2024, CRTPO will open a separate public involvement period for the Division Needs projects, which include road projects on the secondary road system, as well as bicycle and pedestrian, rail, transit, and aviation projects.
NCDOT has developed quantitative scores for transportation projects submitted by MPOs, Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) and NCDOT Divisions, according to formulas established under the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law. CRTPO has 2,500 local input points to allocate to its projects within the Regional Impact tier and an additional 2,500 points to allocate within the Division Needs tier of STI. The STI legislation specifies that MPOs, RPOs and NCDOT Division offices must adhere to their adopted methodologies to the greatest extent possible when assigning local input points.
Comments should be directed to Travis Johnson using the following methods:
E-Mail: [email protected]
Mail: CRTPO
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center
600 E. Fourth St., 8th floor
Charlotte, NC 28202
Si usted necesita mas informacion sobre este tema en Español, por favor contacte CRTPO a [email protected].
Residents may also comment on the proposed project lists in person during the CRTPO Board meeting on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. The meetings are held at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth Street, room 267, Charlotte, beginning at 6 p.m. Those who wish to speak must sign up at least five minutes prior to the start of the meeting. The CRTPO Board is anticipated to approve the allocation of local input points for Regional Impact projects for all modes to NCDOT for scoring in Prioritization 7.0 during the August 21 meeting.
The Strategic Transportation Investments law is a quantitative, data-driven approach to develop the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and its local counterpart, the locally adopted Metropolitan TIP. As a result, one of the most important opportunities for public involvement in Prioritization 7.0 is when the CRTPO selects projects for consideration, which occurred in September 2023. The second is when the CRTPO provides input on the final priority of projects, which occurs when the CRTPO Board votes on the Regional Impact project list during the August 21, 2024, meeting and the Division Needs project list during the November 20, 2024 meeting.
The final product of Prioritization 7.0, the 2026-2035 Transportation Improvement Program, will be adopted by the CRTPO Board in 2025.
The CRTPO is the metropolitan planning organization for the greater Charlotte urban area, including Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Union counties. More information about the CRTPO is available on its website at https://www.crtpo.org/.