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RALEIGH – The N.C. Board of Transportation today adopted NCDOT’s Strategic Plan,the centerpiece of Gov. Bev Perdue’s transportation reform initiative.
Photo by Angie Newsome.
The plan is an overarching document that defines the department’s priorities for the next decade and translates them into specific projects. It was developed in response to Gov. Perdue’s executive order to take the politics out of NCDOT’s decision-making process.
Using a “Policy to Projects” approach, the plan begins with long-range goals and investment decisions, and ends with a detailed work program that spells out specific projects needed to achieve these goals. It uses hard data and local input to rank and score projects based on their alignment with the department’s long-term goals of safety, mobility and infrastructure health.
“This plan reflects our reform-minded commitment to transparency, efficiency and accountability,” said Judge Robert Collier, chairman of the Board of Transportation.
Transportation Secretary Gene Conti added, “By working closely with stakeholders and other citizens across the state, we have developed an honest plan that provides for North Carolina’s transportation needs both today and tomorrow.”
This new plan will help NCDOT achieve its goal of delivering 95 percent of projects when promised, as opposed to 60 percent of projects in the past.
The strategic plan includes three elements: the Program & Resource Plan, the seven-year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the five-year Work Program. There are approximately 4,700 projects with timelines in the plan.
The Program & Resource Plan contains revenue projections and proposed funding allocations across all modes of transportation (aviation, bicycle and pedestrian, ferry, highway, public transportation and rail) for construction and engineering, maintenance, operations and administration for the years 2011 through 2020. Over this 10-year period, NCDOT anticipates roughly $45 billion in transportation funding will be available, with an increased share for maintaining bridges and pavement.
NCDOT’s five-year work program outlines specific funding levels for all NCDOT transportation divisions. From 2011-2015, the department expects to spend nearly $24 billion on transportation.
The federally mandated STIP lists the projects included in the Work Program and the Program & Resource Plan. It provides costs and schedules for each project.
Gov. Perdue signed Executive Order No. 2 in January 2009 to reform NCDOT and ensure that its plans and projects are developed and awarded in a professional manner. Based on this order and input from stakeholders across the state, NCDOT officials developed the strategic plan for transportation decision-making.
For more information about the Strategic Plan, including a listing of all projects, visit www.ncdot.gov and click on “Transportation Reform.” View NCDOT projects using the Project Search tool.
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