Transportation Project Prioritization Introduction

Throughout 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Cape Fear Rural Planning Organization (CFRPO), 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 6.0” (or P6.0) is directly tied to the Strategic Transportation Investments law that passed the NC General Assembly in 2013.

The Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law established a process for allocating transportation funding based on data-driven scores and local input. Statewide transportation capital funds are divided into three funding tiers: Statewide Mobility (40%), Regional Impact (30%), and Division Needs (30%). Projects compete for funding at the different tiers based on detailed eligibility criteria. Data-driven scores are calculated at all tiers, with competition at the Statewide Mobility tier entirely based on quantitative scores and competition at the Regional Impact and Division Needs tiers based on a combination of quantitative scores and local input. The prioritization process is a roughly 2-year process that occurs every two years. The result of the process is the programming of transportation funds to specific projects in the STIP (see below).

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 to write/call us. We have a time for public comment at the beginning of each RTCC and RTAC meeting. You may reach CFRPO staff by email at pflanagan@capefearcog.org or by phone at (910) 274-0349. You may also send written correspondence to: Cape Fear RPO, Attn. Patrick Flanagan, 1480 Harbour Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401-7776.

Prioritization 6.0

Important dates to remember in the Prioritization 6.0 process (Note these dates have changed from the original schedule to reflect NCDOT’s latest schedule adjustment for P6.0):

July 31, 2020:

  • Final Submissions due in SPOT Online (system closes)

October 23, 2020

  • Area-Specific Weights due

May 2021:

  • Quantitative scores released with draft Statewide programming results

June 2021:

  • June 1st – Local Input Point Methodology must be approved 

June 1st to August 27th 2021:

  • Regional Impact Local Input window

November 1st to January 28th 2022:

  • Division Needs Local Input window

May 2022:

Draft 2023-2032 STIP Released

Prioritization 5.0
Prioritization 4.0
Prioritization 3.0
Prioritization 2.0
Prioritization 1