August 2025

Highlights from August 14, 2025, RTCC & RTAC Meetings

At the August 14th meeting, the RTCC and RTAC discussed the following:

Letter of Support for Orange County RAISE Application and Summary of Letters of Support for 5310 funds
STIP Update - 2024-2033 STIP & 2026-2035 STIP
Prioritization 8.0 Update – Review a Slate of Proposed Project Submittals for Prioritization 8.0 & Contingencies
Prioritization 9.0 Start – Review Projects to be submitted for Express Designs

The RTCC and RTAC removed the last item from both of their Consent Agendas, and RTCC adopted its Consent Agenda with one abstention, and RTAC adopted its Consent Agenda unanimously.

The items were:

Approve June 12, 2025 Minutes
Approve the Letter of Support for Orange County RAISE Application
Approve the Draft Slate of Prioritization 8.0 Project Submittals & Contingencies
~~Concur with the First Set of Proposed Projects to be Submitted for Express Designs~~

For more information on these items and other topics discussed at the meetings, please click on these links for the meeting slides:

RTCC

RTAC

Our next meeting on October 9, 2025, will be online and in person at Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, 1192 US-64 BUS, Pittsboro, NC

Strategic Transportation Investments (aka Prioritization 8.0)

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 process can be found on NCDOT’s website here.

A webpage on CPRPO's 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 it widely available to the public.

Currently, the RTCC and RTAC have approved the slate of projects to be submitted to SPOT Online by September 30, 2025. In Spring 2026, SPOT quantitative scores will be released, and later in the year, CPRPO will determine draft and final local input points for Regional and Division tier projects.

CPRPO welcomes 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 contact CPRPO staff by email at kfuller@centralpinesnc.gov or at (919) 558-9320. You may also send written correspondence to: CPRPO, Attn. Karyl Fuller, 4307 Emperor Blvd., Suite 110, Durham, NC 27703.

Education Wednesdays

CPRPO is posting monthly transportation education content on its website. It will range from brief reminders of current and recently updated laws to longer educational pieces about new innovative intersections and more.

Staff plans to highlight one here as well. See below for August's:

Bus-is-safest-vehicle-square-ITRE-2022-1-300x300 image

According to the Transportation Research Board, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, a child is 13 times safer on a school bus than in other modes of travel.

Grant Funding Opportunities

CPRC's Funding & Grant Support Page

Upcoming Events

NC Transportation Summit - September 3-4, 2025 in Raleigh

CPRPO RTCC Meeting - October 9, 2025 at 10:30 AM in Pittsboro

CPRPO RTAC Meeting - October 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM in Pittsboro

CPRPO RTCC Meeting - December 12, 2025 at 10:30 AM in Sanford

CPRPO RTAC Meeting - December 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM in Sanford

Recent STIP Amendments

Staff updates a database of STIP projects to include recent changes. Several views are available: recent changes and also, a listing of all projects sorted by county. See here.

New Briefs