Steele Creek Residents Association

STEELE CREEK NEWS

Comment Period is Open on Local Input for Hwy 160 Funding

(June 22, 2014) The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) has opened a 30-day public comment period to obtain public input on its draft list of projects that are proposed to receive local input points as part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT’s) Prioritization 3.0 process. Prioritization is NCDOT’s decision making tool for developing the next Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which is a listing of projects to be funded and delivered within an upcoming five-year work program.

CRTPO is proposing to assign local input points to two Regional Impact projects in Steele Creek. (Click here for Map and List.)

1) Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) from Shopton Road West to S Tryon Street - ID H111172-B - Widen to multi-lanes including bike lanes and sidewalks. $38,965,000.

The Regional Impact Quantitative Score for this project (29.60) ranked 8th among CRTPO projects in Region E.

2) Intersection of Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) and Hamilton Road - ID H142094 - Widen intersection of NC Highway 160 (Steele Creek Road) and Hamilton Road for additional capacity consistent with the future Steele Creek Rd cross section - $1,628,000.

This project was not included in CRTPO's 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). It was submitted instead by NCDOT District 10. It actually had the highest Regional Impact Quantitative Score (42.43) among CRTPO projects in Region E, which includes Mecklenburg and Union Counties.

Heavy traffic at this intersection of two two-lane roads with no left turn lanes creates significant backups, especially during rush hours.

The other Highway 160 project under consideration (widening from S Tryon Street to the South Carolina line) ranked 24 among CRTPO projects in Region E and its Regional Impact Quantitative Score of 21.53 was too low for it to proceed into the local input points assignment phase.

Thus two Highway 160 projects (widening from Shopton Road West to S Tryon Street and improving the Steele Creek Road/Hamilton Road intersection) are still under consideration for funding in the FY 2016-2020 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The assignment of local input points by CRTPO will ensure these projects remain in contention for funding and completion by 2020.

The third Highway 160 project, its widening from S Tryon Street to the state line, ranks too low for consideration for the next TIP. Fortunately, the local NCDOT division office determined that the key intersection on that section should be considered on its own merit and identified it as a high priority project. Otherwise, there likely would be no improvements in the near future for the section of Highway 160 south of S Tryon Street.

If you would like to express support for CRTPO's plan to assign local input points to the two Highway 160 projects, you may use this FORM to send your comments by July 21 to:

Scoring for Regional Impact Highway Projects

70% - Data Driven
NCDOT released draft Quantitative Scores on May 14. Various factors were considered, including congestion, safety, cost effectiveness, and others.

15% - MPO Local Input Points
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs) assign up to 100 points to each project. CRTPO is the MPO for the Charlotte area and has allocated 2400 points among 25 projects. The maximum 100 points times 15% gives the 15% maximum allocation for each project in the MPO.

15% - NCDOT Regional Engineer Local Input Points
Division 10, which includes Mecklenburg County, also will be assigning local input points.

E-Mail	info@crtpo.org
Regular Mail	CRTPO Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center 600 E. Fourth St., 8th floor Charlotte, NC 28202
FAX	704-336-5123

Or you may speak at the July 16 CRTPO meeting, which will begin at 6:00 P.M. in Room 267 of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.

To comment on this story, please visit the Steele Creek Forum.

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