admin posted on August 09, 2010 08:25
NCDOT ASKS CITIZENS TO HELP CREATE PROJECT SELECTION PROCESS FOR MOBILITY FUND
Public comment period starts today, runs through Sept. 9
RALEIGH — Starting today, citizens can help the N.C. Department of Transportation decide how to choose which projects will receive funding from the state’s Mobility Fund, which generates new dollars for transportation projects of statewide or regional significance. NCDOT will use their ideas to establish a formal project selection process.
“This new funding source will make a real difference in easing congestion and helping people get where they need to go more efficiently in North Carolina,” Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said. “With strong public input, we can create a fair selection process that takes into account the factors that are important to those who use our transportation network every day.”
Gov. Bev Perdue proposed the creation of the Mobility Fund, and signed it into law as part of the state’s budget. The fund will generate $173 million from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2014.
The funding comes from unused gap funds and reductions in the amount of money transferred from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund.
The month-long public comment period will end Sept. 9. Citizens can share their ideas in several ways:
• E-mail comments to Don Voelker, director of NCDOT’s Strategic Planning Office of Transportation, at djvoelker@ncdot.gov;
• Send comments through the department’s Contact Us system;
• Mail comments to: Don Voelker, Director of the Strategic Planning Office of Transportation, NCDOT, 1501 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1501; or
• Visit NCDOT’s new Citizen Connect online forum. It allows users to log on and post their comments where others can read them and add additional insight. The goal of the forum is to provide citizens with a place to engage in online conversations about the Mobility Fund, which will help generate new ideas by building on old ones.
NCDOT will use the comments it receives from the public to create a preliminary report describing the project selection process. Citizens will have the month of October to comment on the report’s findings. The department will use that input to create a final report laying out the new process, which it will present to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee in December.