Every two years, the Central Pines Rural Planning Organization (CPRPO), along with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), will go through a process to identify and prioritize transportation projects for inclusion in the state’s next Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This process, known as “Prioritization 8.0” for the current cycle, is directly tied to the Strategic Transportation Investments law that passed the NC General Assembly in 2013. General information about this overall process can be found on NCDOT’s website here.
This website has been established to serve as a resource and repository of information on this project prioritization and funding process within the CPRPO region. As information becomes available throughout this process, it will be added to this site to make the information widely available to the public.
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 write/call us. We have a time for public comment at the beginning of each RTCC and RTAC meeting. You may reach CPRPO staff by email at kfuller@centralpinesnc.gov or by phone at (919) 558-9320. You may also send written correspondence to: CPRPO, Attn. Karyl Fuller, 4307 Emperor Blvd., Suite 110, Durham, NC 27703.
Prioritization 8.0
Go to Current Step in the Process
Strategic Transportation Investments Law (STI)
In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law, which represents a fundamental shift in the way transportation projects are prioritized and funded in North Carolina. For more information on STI, please visit the NCDOT’s main STI website or NCDOT’s STI Resources website.
Call for Projects and Prioritization Subcommittee
As part of the Prioritization 8.0 process, CPRPO is permitted to submit up to 14 projects in each mode of transportation (highway, bicycle/pedestrian, transit, aviation, rail, and ferry) for scoring. In February 2025, the CPRPO RTAC appointed members to a Prioritization Subcommittee that was charged with soliciting project ideas from local governments and developing a draft list of projects to be submitted for scoring.
In Spring 2025, all of Central Pines RPO’s counties met and developed draft lists of projects for prioritization. These draft lists are:
If you have a comment, please email kfuller@centralpinesnc.gov. She will share your comments with TAC at their meeting on August 14, 2025.
On July 28, 2025, the RTCC Prioritization sub-committee met and drafted a slate of transportation projects from the 4 county lists. See the draft slate below:
At the August 14, 2025 RTCC and RTAC meetings, the draft slate was reviewed, staff recommended a correction and minor text corrections and asked for four contingencies. The RTAC approved the draft slate and the four contingences. See below for the final slate.
***Projects are correct in the list but the SPOT IDs have been missorted. See the next above list for SPOT IDs. A list of projects submitted will also be available and it will have the correct SPOT IDs.
Staff submitted the final slate before the September 30th deadline and it appears below.
Public Comment Period on Central Pines Rural Planning Organization’s Draft Transportation Project Prioritization Process
This methodology will be used by Central Pines RPO to give local input to the NC Department of Transportation on which transportation projects are the highest priority in our area. The Prioritization process covers all modes of transportation. The methodology will apply to proposed projects in Lee County, and the non-metropolitan portions of Chatham, Moore and Orange Counties.
The public is welcome to submit comments on this document. Comments can be sent by email to kfuller@centralpinesnc.gov or mail to Karyl Fuller, Central Pines RPO, 4307 Emperor Blvd, Suite 110, Durham, NC 27703. These written comments must be received by 5:00 PM on Monday, March 16, 2026. Comments can also be given during the Public Hearing that will be held during the April 9, 2026 RTAC meeting, which will begin at 12:00 PM at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic & Conference Center, 1801 Nash Street, Sanford, NC.
Next Steps
·Staff has posted the Local Input Point methodology for public comment. The public comment will close on March 16, 2026. It is slate to be adopted at the April 9, 2026 TAC meeting after a public hearing.
·In Spring 2026, SPOT scores will be released for all projects submitted.
Last Updated: January 31, 2025