GDOT Annual Report 2019

M E T R O P O L I T A N P L A N N I N G O R G A N I Z A T I O N

Looking to 2029: Future Funding Priorities

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) administers a needs-based multimodal prioritization process to identify, rank, and select transportation projects for implementation using state and federal funding. First initiated in 2009 by executive order and then codifed into state law by the Strategic Transportation Investments Act of 2013, the process ranks projects on needs-based criteria such as congestion, safety, and freight, as well as input points allocated by the area metropolitan or rural planning organization and the NCDOT Division engineer. The process is the basis for project selection under the Transportation Improvement Program or TIP. The TIP includes all state and federally funded projects from across the state for all modes. One of the most important responsibilities of the Greensboro Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), stafed by the Greensboro Department of Transportation (GDOT), is its role in identifying, prioritizing, and securing funding for area transportation priorities under this process. This involves making tough choices on which projects to submit for a limited number of slots for evaluation and how to allocate its very limited supply of local input points. Staf continues to think creatively in an efort to identify additional needed projects and break related projects into phases. This includes sorting through data, coordinating with other departments and stakeholder groups, and listening to the community. Staf also works very hard at projecting potential results, identifying which projects are most competitive, and ensuring that NCDOT tallies its scores correctly for MPO area projects. $615 Million in Projects Approved prioritization, known as Prioritization 5.0, after public review and approval by the MPO’s Transportation Advisory Committee. The prioritization process takes two years to produce the Draft TIP. The Draft FY 2020- 2029 TIP was released in early 2019 and will be adopted in September 2019. The Greensboro MPO area is slated to more than $615 million in transportation investment under this program. The MPO submitted its project list to NCDOT in September 2017 for the most recent round of

Some key projects included in the initial draft: • US 29: Access management and safety

improvements from Gate City Boulevard to Summit Hills. The project will also include reconfguring the interchange at Summit Avenue and Phillips Avenue. • US 220 (Battleground Avenue/Wendover Avenue): Reconfgure Battleground Avenue, Lawndale Avenue, andWestover Terrace between Fernwood Drive andWendover Avenue to improve trafc fow and safety. • I-40: Widen interstate between Freeman Mill Road and US 29. Improve and modify Randleman Road and Elm-Eugene Street interchanges to improve safety and mobility. NCDOT is currently in the process of fnalizing the TIP, and the fnal document may include changes from the previous draft. This is due to project cost increases, the number of projects in the pipeline, and NCDOT’s relative success at completing projects earlier than previously anticipated. The approval of the Draft Fiscal Year 2020- 2029 TIP has been delayed from the typical June date until September to review and make needed funding and scheduling revisions, also known as rebalancing. Therefore the new funding identifed for in the TIP may be adjusted along with scheduling when the revised TIP is released. The Greensboro MPO has many projects included in the TIP. Many of the new projects to be added under Prioritization 5.0 are scheduled for the later years of the TIP. Any projects scheduled in those years are subject for reprioritization and are potentially subject to change. The MPO staf is evaluating the projects to minimize rebalancing impacts and has a strong partnership with NCDOT. The partnership has allowed both the MPO and NCDOT to maximize the use of funds resulting in accelerated project construction. For more information on the prioritization process and selected projects, visit the MPO website at www.guampo.org.

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