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RPO News
Rural Transportation
Planning
Rural Transportation Planning Services are also provided through this division. Our staff provides support services for the Lumber River Rural Transportation Planning Organization (RPO). Work includes assistance to local governments and citizens in partnership with the NC Department of Transportation efforts in the LRCOG region.
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Lumber River RPO
Since 2002, the Lumber River Rural Transportation Planning Organization (RPO) has been working cooperatively with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to enhance transportation planning opportunities in Richmond and Scotland Counties and rural portions of Hoke and Robeson Counties (see map below). The eighteen RPOs across North Carolina are voluntary associations of local elected officials and citizens working in partnership with NCDOT. This structure provides local officials in rural areas of the State with a formal framework to participate in statewide and regional transportation planning processes.
The Major Duties and Responsibilities of the Lumber River RPO are:
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Developing long-range transportation plans for the region in cooperation with local governments and NCDOT
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Developing and prioritizing projects for inclusion in the State Transportation Improvement Program*
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Providing transportation related information and data to local governments, citizens, and other interested parties
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Providing a forum for public involvement in the rural transportation planning process
These responsibilities and related projects and tasks are accomplished through the work of the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). The LRCOG is the Lead Planning Agency for the RPO, providing staff support from the Local Government Services Division.
Transportation Committees
Transportation Advisory Committee
The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) is the governing policy board for the Lumber River RPO. The TAC provides policy direction for the planning process, facilitates communication and coordination among the member jurisdictions, and guides the development of a comprehensive multi-modal transportation program. Its membership includes local elected officials and the area's representative on the NCDOT Board of Transportation. The TAC meets the fourth Monday of odd numbered months at 12 o'clock noon. The meetings are usually held at the LRCOG offices.
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Transportation Coordinating Committee
The Transportation Coordinating Committee's (TCC) role is to support and advise the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) in carrying out the four core responsibilities of the RPO by providing technical assistance and recommendations to the TAC. The TCC is comprised of staff from member local governments and the NCDOT, as well as local citizens and members of other local agencies interested in the transportation planning process. The TCC meets on the second Tuesday of odd numbered months at 10:30am. The meetings are usually held at the LRCOG Offices.
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*PROJECT PRIORTIZATION PROCESS INFORMATION
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The Lumber River RPO (LRRPO), along with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), continually goes through the process to identify and prioritize transportation projects for inclusion in the state’s next Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
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This website page has been established to serve as a resource and repository of information on this project prioritization and funding process within the LRRPO region. As information becomes available throughout this process, it will be added to this site to make the information widely available to the public. If you have any questions about the information on this site, please contact Janet Robertson at 910-775-9749 or jfr@lrcog.org.
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​We welcome your comments and feedback on the prioritization of transportation projects. Please feel free to attend any of our meetings, which are all open to the public, or to write/call us. We have a time for public comment at the beginning of each TCC and TAC meeting. You may reach RPO staff by email at jfr@lrcog.org or by phone at (910) 775-9749. You may also send written correspondence to: Lumber River Council of Governments, Attn. Janet Robertson, 30 C.J. Walker Rd, COMtech Park, Pembroke, NC, 28372.
Strategic Transportation Investments Law (STI)
In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted House Bill 817, the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law, which represents a fundamental change in the way transportation projects are prioritized and funded in North Carolina. For more information on STI, please visit the NCDOT’s STI website:
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For the list of the final Local Input Points assignment for projects prioritized by the LRRPO in the last prioritization process (known as P5.0), please click here for Regional impact projects, here for Division Needs projects.
PROJECT PRIORITIZATION PROCESS INFORMATION
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2024-2033 STIP Development
Due to rising costs for projects funded in the previously adopted 2020-2029 STIP, little to no funding was projected to be available for new projects in the 2024-2033 STIP timeframe.
Therefore, in August 2021, a workgroup recommended and the N.C. Board of Transportation approved the Prioritization 6.0 (P6) cycle be halted. The decision was made to develop the 2024-2033 STIP using existing projects from the previously adopted 2020-2029 STIP.
The conclusion of the P6 cycle was the release of the quantitative scores and the local input point procedure was halted. The workgroup was reconvened to finalize the methodology and procedures used for this one-time STIP development exception, and the Board of Transportation approved the process. Projects with current construction schedules in the first three years of the STIP (2024-2027), projects with right of way actively underway, and those with federal grants were funded first; followed by a seniority approach of combined factors such as oldest prioritization cycle and highest scoring projects. There were no newly submitted projects from the P6.0 prioritization cycle included in the 2024-2033 STIP.
The initial 2024-2033 Draft STIP was released in April 2022. Fortunately, during the summer 2022 legislative session, the Department received additional revenues through sales tax. A revised 2024-2033 Draft STIP was released in August of 2022 followed by a public comment period in fall 2022.
Additionally, after the release of the August 2022 revised draft, there was coordination between NCDOT and the MPO/RPO partners to do schedule swaps if feasible and desired. NCDOT Division Offices held weeklong open houses between September and October 2022 to receive public input.
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2024-2033 STIP Approval
​The N.C. Board of Transportation adopted the 2024-2033 STIP at its June 2023 meeting. Please Click Here to see the 2024-2033 Final STIP for the whole State. Click here to see the Lumber River RPO portion of the 2024-2033 STIP.
Prioritization Process for the 2026-2035 STIP
The process to develop the next STIP (2026-2035) is known as Prioritization 7.0 or P7. Please Click Here for the P7 Schedule.
In May 2023, the Lumber River RPO held public meetings in each County to solicit potential projects to be submitted to NCDOT for consideration in P7. Over the Summer and Fall, the TCC and TAC reviewed and approved the projects and Staff gathered required data. Please Click Here to view the list of projects that was submitted to NCDOT in October 2023.
Please Click Here for the RPO’s Methodology for assigning Local Public Input Points, which was approved by the TAC on March 25, 2024
The NCDOT released the P7 Quantitative Scores for all projects on May 24, 2024. Lists of projects with scores in the Lumber River RPO have been separated by County with Statewide Mobility and Regional Impact projects listed first, followed by Division Needs projects. For Hoke County scores, please Click Here. For Richmond County scores, please Click Here. For Robeson County Scores, please Click Here. For Scotland County Scores, please Click Here.
A Public Meeting was held in each County in June 2024, for the purpose of prioritizing each County’s projects according to the Methodology. Please Click Here for the list of meeting dates and locations. Please Click Here for Hoke County’s list of project priorities. For Richmond County’s priorities, please Click Here. For Robeson County’s priorities, please Click Here. For Scotland County’s priorities please Click Here.
Public comments can be mailed to Janet Robertson, LRCOG, 30 CJ Walker Rd, Pembroke, NC, 28372 or emailed to janet.robertson@lrcog.org.
The RPO staff compiled the total scores for all projects and the preliminary assignment of Local Input Points in accordance with the procedures laid out in the Methodology. At its July 9, 2024 meeting, the TCC recommended the Preliminary Regional Impact Local Input points assignment to the TAC with no changes. After a Public Comment Period, the TAC approved the Regional Local Input points assignment without making any changes on August 5, 2024. Click Here for the Approved Regional Local Input Points Assignment. These Local Input Points have been entered into NCDOT’s website (SPOTon!ine)
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On 9/20/24, NCDOT released the list of projects that received funding in the Regional Impact category in the Draft 2026-2035 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). Click Here to view the two projects that received funding in the Lumber River RPO.
Click Here to view the P7 Funding Availability for Division Needs projects as of 9/18/24. There is only $79 Million available to fund Division Needs projects in Division 6. There is no funding available in Division 8.
The RPO’s Prioritization Methodology was applied to the Division Needs projects as well as the projects that were not programmed in the Statewide and Regional Impact Categories. At its October 5, 2024 meeting, the TCC reviewed the Preliminary Points Assignment and recommended some changes. The original Methodology assignment gave 100 Local Input Points each to projects H090013-B and H129200-A. However, because of the extremely high cost of these projects ($322,100,000 and $251,100,000 respectively), the TCC decided that it was very unlikely that these projects would receive funding because of the limited amount of funds available. The TCC recommended that these two projects not receive any Local Input Points.
The TCC recommended moving the remaining 200 points to lower cost projects as follows:
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59 points should be added to A130332 to give that project a total of 100 points.
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100 points should be assigned to B192354
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The remaining 41 points should be assigned to A130326
Click Here for a descriptions of the projects for which the TCC recommended changing the number of Local Input Points assigned.
While making the TCC’s recommended changes to be shown in the spreadsheet for the TAC meeting, staff realized that A130326 had mistakenly been listed twice and was already assigned 100 points (the maximum). After consultation with the TCC chair and the member who had made the original motion, the remaining 40 points was assigned to the first project with a similar cost (A191766). Click Here for the resulting TCC recommendation for the Local Input Points Assignment in the Division Needs category.
At the TAC meeting on 10/04/24, a Public Comment Period was held on the TCC’s recommendation; no comments were received. The TAC then approved the TCC’s recommendation as the Final Division Needs Points Assignment.
Staff entered the TAC approved Local Input Points Assignment into the NCDOT database. Because NCDOT listed project H090669 (R-5827) as 84% (instead of 83%) in the Lumber River RPO, the number of points assigned to that project was increased to 84. Therefore only 40 points remained to be assigned to project A191766. Click Here for the final assignment of Division Needs Local Input Points as entered in the NCDOT database.
NCDOT released the Draft 2026-2035 State Transportation Improvement Program on January 31, 2025. Click Here to see a spreadsheet that shows the changes in the Lumber River RPO between the Draft and the current 2024-2033 STIP. Because of limited funding availability resulting from substantial cost estimate increases, several projects have been delayed or have lost funding. NCDOT is holding a Public Comment Period on the Draft through April 4, 2025. You may access the Draft and submit public comment at ncdot.gov/sti.
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Prioritization Process (P8) for the 2028-2037 STIP
The process to develop the 2028-2037 STIP has begun. Click Here for the P8 schedule.
The period for the RPO to submit projects to be considered for the next STIP opens in July 2025 and closes at the end of September 2025. At this time, it appears that the Lumber River RPO will be allotted 16 project submittals in each transportation mode. Click Here for the list of projects that must be resubmitted if they are to be considered in the P8 process.
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There will be a meeting in each RPO County for the public and jurisdictions to propose projects. Please Click Here for the schedule of County project submittal meetings.
Project proposals may also be submitted by email at jfr@lrcog.org or by mail at Lumber River Council of Governments, Attn: Janet Robertso, 30 C.J. Walker Rd, Pembroke, NC, 28372. Project proposals must be received by Noon on Monday, June 30, 2025.
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I-73/74 Corridor in the Lumber River RPO
Resources
Comprehensive Transportation Plans
​Other Links
For More information:
Lumber River Council of Governments
Lumber River RPO