Cape Fear Rural Planning Organization Hosts State Leaders at Rural Transportation Summit in Brunswick County
ST. JAMES, N.C. – The Cape Fear Rural Planning Organization (RPO), which covers all of Columbus and portions of Brunswick and Pender Counties, hosted a rural transportation summit on Thursday, September 18 at the St. James Community Building in Brunswick County.
“As portions of our state become increasingly urbanized, it is important for those of us who live in rural areas to have a strong, effective voice in transportation and other important issues,” said Brunswick County Commissioner Frank Williams, who serves as chair of the RPO’s transportation advisory committee. “The Cape Fear RPO held this summit to educate our key stakeholders on the state’s new transportation prioritization process, review how the prioritization process played out this year, and provide our local officials with an opportunity to connect with key state-level leaders.”
“I commend Governor McCrory and our legislative leaders for having the courage to implement transportation reforms, and I applaud the governor for developing a long-term transportation plan that spans a generation, not an election cycle,” Williams added. “As with any process, it is important to review and tweak the transportation prioritization process now that we have seen how it played out at the local level. With that in mind, I anticipate that our RPO will develop a set of recommendations to present to state leaders in the near future.”
Speakers at the Rural Transportation Summit included:
- Susan Pullium, Director of Strategic Planning, N.C. Department of Transportation
- Bobby Lewis, Chief of Staff, N.C. Department of Transportation
- Senator Bill Rabon, Co-Chairman, N.C. Senate Transportation Committee
- Representative Frank Iler, Chairman, N.C. House Transportation Committee; Vice Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation
- Mike Hargett (Brunswick County Planning Director), Allen Serkin (Cape Fear RPO), Patrick Riddle (NCDOT Division 3 Planning Engineer) and Joe Bailey (NCDOT Division 6 Planning Engineer), who walked through how Prioritization 3.0 played out in the RPO’s jurisdiction this year.
The Cape Fear Area RPO covers Brunswick, Columbus and Pender Counties and serves as the intergovernmental organization for local elected officials, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and residents of the region to work cooperatively to address transportation issues. The Rural Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) is the RPO’s policy board. The RTAC is made up of elected officials from Brunswick, Columbus and Pender Counties. For more information, please visit http://www.CapeFearRPO.org. Administrative support for the Cape Fear RPO is provided by the Cape Fear Council of Governments (COG).
Background on Rural Planning Organizations
According to the N.C. Department of Transportation website, in 2000 the State of North Carolina recognized the need for more coordinated transportation planning in rural North Carolina areas not within a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) by enacting Chapter 136, Article 17, Section 136-210-213 of the General Statutes. This provided for the development of Rural Transportation Planning Organizations (RPOs). There are 20 Rural Planning Organizations in the State.
Although organized and tasked in a manner very similar to MPO’s, RPOs are grounded in state law rather than federal, and are intended to address and improve rural area transportation planning processes. RPOs assist the North Carolina Department of Transportation by carrying the following four core duties:
- Develop, in cooperation with the NCDOT, comprehensive transportation plans.
- Provide a forum for public participation in the transportation planning process.
- Develop and prioritize suggestions for projects that the organization believes should be included in the State’s Transportation Improvement Program.
- Provide transportation-related information to local governments and other interested organizations and persons.