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The N.C. Department of Transportation is identifying projects for its next long-range capital plan and wants citizens to participate in the process.

Public drop-in sessions are set to take place in the 14 highway divisions across the state over the coming weeks. These will be informal gatherings in which citizens can share their interests in transportation projects and ask questions of local NCDOT staff. Locations and times for these meetings can be found on the NCDOT website.

People can also offer their comments via the website or through an interactive online map during the public comment period, which runs June 17 to July 17.

Public input is a key component in developing the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which identifies construction and funding schedules for state transportation projects over a 10-year period. The STIP in development will cover 2026-2035.

Projects included in the STIP are funded in three categories, cascading from Statewide Mobility to Regional Impact to Division Needs. The Statewide Mobility tier selection process is 100% data based. Planning organizations and NCDOT’s 14 Highway Divisions assign local input points that account for 30% of the project scores in the Regional Impact tier and 50% of the Division Needs project scores.

NCDOT released the Statewide Mobility scores and funded projects list on May 24. The Regional Impact funded projects list is expected to be released in late summer/early fall, after the upcoming public comment period. A comment period for the Division Needs phase will be held in the fall and a draft of the 2026-2035 STIP is expected to be released in early 2025.