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| Leaders Encourage Employers to Help Lighten Load as Phase II of Fortify Prepares for Takeoff Posted: 04 Dec 2014 08:07 AM PST Raleigh-- Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane joined North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Secretary Tony Tata today at a town hall meeting to encourage Raleigh area employers and their employees to practice smart commuting in order to lighten the traffic during Phase II of the Fortify I40-/440 Rebuild Project. The purpose of the meeting, held in the Raleigh Convention Center, was to inform and prepare area residents for Fortify Phase II. Speakers in addition to Mayor McFarlane and Secretary Tata included: Mark Charbonneau, NCDOT deputy secretary for communications; Dennis Jernigan, NCDOT division construction engineer; David King, Triangle Transit general manager; C. Neal Alexander, director of the State Human Resources Office; and Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance. Motorists driving through the Fortify I40/440 Rebuild Project soon will see work ramp up on the Interstate 40 (I40) portion of the project, known as Phase II. As scheduled, Phase I is almost complete. The I440 west section from the I40 split to the I495/U.S. 264/64 interchange is scheduled to be in its updated traffic pattern by the end of December. The I440 east section is expected to be open in its three-lane pattern by the end of January. Fortify is a road rebuild project that is necessary for the safety of the 115,000 motorists who travel the road every day. A chemical reaction occurring beneath the surface of the 30-year-old roadway is causing the road bed to crumble. In January, weather permitting, Fortify crews will phase in traffic shifts on both the I40 east and west lanes near the Gorman/Lake Wheeler exits while construction takes place outside the barrier walls. Following that, crews will continue to put up barrier walls along the I40 project work zone until this entire stretch of roadway operates in a three-lane traffic pattern. To reduce the traffic impact NCDOT is asking local employers to help get 30,000 vehicles off the road during the following peak commute times: Monday – Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. "Rebuilding this roadway is critical to keeping thousands of North Carolinians connected to jobs, education, health care and recreation each day," said NCDOT Secretary Tony Tata. "I'm proud that state government agencies, as well as other community partners are working together to provide innovative ways to keep traffic flowing and help drivers to get where they need to go while these important safety improvements are under way." As Wake County's largest employer with more than 24,000 employees, State government agencies are proactively helping the road rebuild effort by offering its employees strategic ways to avoid I40 and I440 during peak travel times. Where possible these agencies are encouraging staff impacted by the project to take advantage of the following options:• Alternate work schedules;• Alternate work sites;• Teleworking; and,• Alternate forms of transportation. "These are not one-size-fits-all options for every agency and state employee,"said C. Neal Alexander, director of the Office of State Human Resources. "Each agency can determine what is most appropriate and effective for its employees and tailor the options accordingly to ensure that productivity and efficiency continue during the most impactful portion of the project." To help State employees with the cost of alternative transportation the North Carolina Department of Administration is offering North Carolina State government workers based in Wake County a GoPass as part of a pilot program associated with Fortify. The State is one of 15 public and private employers in the Triangle that invests in the GoPass program for employees. For more information on the GoPass visit www.gotriangle.org/transit/employee-discounts/. "This is a great opportunity to encourage more people to consider public transportation as a viable option," said Triangle Transit General Manager David King. "For just a few dollars, the GoPass gives eligible workers a ride to and from work on all of the region's transit systems. They avoid Fortify traffic, which is a plus for them as well as the thousands of motorists who are driving through the construction area." For more information and resources associated with Fortify I40/440 Rebuild Project, including alternative work schedule options visit www.fortifyNC.com. For complete transit information visit www.my40ride.comRTN Replay Schedule To view the Fortify Phase II town meeting, turn to the City of Raleigh's Raleigh Television network on cable channel 11 at the following times: Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.;Monday, Dec. 8, 10:30 a.m. and 11 p.m.;Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.;Wednesday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 13, 9 p.m.;Sunday, Dec. 14, 5 p.m.; and,Monday, Dec. 15, 10:30 a.m. and 11 p.m.
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| NCDOT Releases Draft State Transportation Improvement Program Posted: 04 Dec 2014 01:12 AM PST RALEIGH – Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Tony Tata today told the State Board of Transportation that 303 additional projects will be fully or partially funded and about 126,000 more jobs will be created under the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law, which created the Strategic Mobility Formula. The new funding formula was a major initiative achieved by Governor McCrory during the last legislative session. The results of the new funding formula were contained in the draft 10-year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which was presented at the transportation board's monthly meeting. This is one of the final steps toward implementing the new STI law. "I'm pleased that the transportation law and vision, which is based on economic development, safety, and congestion instead of politics, is working as intended and exceeding our expectations," said Governor McCrory. "Over the next 10 years, this new law and vision will help create thousands of new jobs, invest millions in our communities, and better connect all North Carolinians to work, life and play. This is just the beginning and we will continue to build our infrastructure from the mountains to the coast, rural to urban, which will better connect people to jobs, education, and health care. Using the new formula over 10 years, NCDOT will fund 478 highway projects and create 300,000 jobs. Using the same existing funds, the old formula would have produced 175 highway projects and 174,000 jobs. The Draft STIP includes a total of nearly 1,100 projects across all transportation modes and in every county across the state, making this one of our most comprehensive programs ever. "Through the new formula, we will invest in our entire transportation network from the mountains to the coast, with crews actively working in all 100 counties over the next 10 years," said Secretary Tony Tata. "These projects will improve safety, reduce congestion and strengthen connections to make our state more economically competitive." More than 140 non-highway projects are funded in all, along with another 108 major transition projects that were already scheduled to begin prior to July 1, 2015. The Draft STIP also includes 389 interstate maintenance and bridge projects, and 17 safety projects prioritized under alternate criteria. A breakdown of the project numbers can be found here. The Strategic Mobility Formula was specifically designed to direct 60 percent of the available funding to improvements on the regional and local levels to ensure that we are meeting the varied needs of the communities throughout our state—with the remaining 40 percent going to projects of statewide significance that will benefit all North Carolinians. Examples include: · Completing the Fayetteville Outer Loop to connect Fort Bragg to the Strategic I-95 Corridor and enhance mobility options for our military. · Expanding U.S. 321 between Lenoir and Hickory, which will improve this key regional corridor and better connect the northwestern part of our state to Charlotte and I-85. · Improving I-85 in Gaston County and removing the two-lane bottleneck in southern Rowan County, which will enhance this important route for commuters to Charlotte, as well as help move goods more efficiently to and from Charlotte and the Greenville-Spartanburg area. · Expanding N.C. 211 to the coastal towns of Southport and Oak Island and improve their connection to the U.S. 17 corridor, which will help relieve congestion during the busy tourist season and improve an important evacuation route. While scores for projects on the statewide level are 100-percent data-driven, scores for projects on the regional and division levels also include local input ? 30 percent of the total score on the regional level and 50 percent on the division level – to ensure that local priorities are addressed. Projects also have the ability to cascade down for funding, so projects that were evaluated on the statewide level that did not score high enough to be funded also had the opportunity to compete on the regional and division levels. Examples include: · N.C. 24/27 widening in Stanly County – This project will widen to four lanes N.C. 24/27 from the existing four lanes in Albemarle to the Pee Dee River, as well as replace one of the two bridges that connects Stanly and Montgomery counties. Its regional score was helped, because both the Rural Planning Organization and division gave the project the maximum regional points. · Mid-Currituck Bridge in Currituck County – This project will build a bridge between the Currituck County mainland and Corolla, which will address local needs by alleviating congestion on U.S. 158 and N.C. 12, and better connect the Outer Banks to the Hampton Roads region in Virginia. Its division level score was helped, because both the RPO and division gave the project the maximum number of points. Next Steps NCDOT will hold a public comment period and public meetings in March and April to seek input on the Draft STIP. The Board of Transportation is expected to approve the Final 2016-2025 STIP in June 2015, which will be the final step in implementing STI. STI's data-driven prioritization process is increasing our efficiency in using Highway Trust Fund money to program more projects; however, of the 3,100 projects submitted through STI, NCDOT will only have enough funding to program 559 projects, or 18 percent of the locally submitted needs. With the implementation of the new STI law and mobility formula, and Gov. McCrory's 25-Year Vision in place to map our future and guide transportation investments over the next 25 years, NCDOT's focus will now turn to investing in the vision. We plan to present targeted revenue recommendations to the General Assembly for action during the 2015 legislative session. Discussions about transportation funding will focus on the role of the state in supporting the costs of maintaining and building transportation infrastructure, as well as alternative funding solutions to support our growing state and make North Carolina even more economically competitive. ***NCDOT***
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