The North Carolina Department of Transportation identified 138 regional highway, aviation, ferry, rail and transit projects last week that it anticipates funding and scheduling for construction over the next decade.

The evaluation of 915 regional impact projects across the state identified the top-scoring projects to be programmed for construction in the forthcoming 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Plan. They include 115 highway projects programmed for $2.4 billion in funding, seven rail projects for $96 million, three ferry projects for $26 million and three transit projects for $191 million.

Five regional projects will be programmed for construction in Division 14 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk, Swain and Transylvania counties), including:

• Interstate 26 – U.S. 25 to U.S. 64 in Polk and Henderson counties, widening

The Strategic Transportation Investments law established a data-driven process for ranking transportation projects in three categories: statewide mobility, regional impact and division needs.

In April, NCDOT identified 77 statewide mobility projects that will share 40 percent of the state’s available project funds. All projects were ranked according to data scores based on safety, congestion reduction, cost-benefit analysis and other criteria.  

The remaining 60 percent of the funds available over the next 10 years will be divided equally between the other two categories: regional impact projects, announced last week, and division needs (local) projects, which will be announced in December. The regional and division project rankings combine data scores with local input points assigned by local planning organizations and NCDOT engineers.

Regional projects that did not score high enough can be considered for possible funding in the division category.

NCDOT and local planning organizations received public comment on all projects in May and early June.  In the coming weeks, each of NCDOT’s 14 divisions will receive additional public comment on division needs project rankings and priorities.

To comment on division needs projects in Division 14, people may contact Steve Williams (828-631-1170 or sjwilliams@ncdot.gov) between Sept. 24 and Oct. 5.

– Submitted article