A Citizens Guide to Transportation Planning in North Carolina

It takes a long time and a significant amount of effort on the part of politicians, planners, engineers, and communities to build or modify a road in North Carolina. There are many regulations, rules, and policies that must be followed and many of these requirements require approval by a wide variety of stakeholders. The purpose of the guidebook is to describe the major steps involved in building, modifying, or improving a roadway. A short description of each chapter in this guidebook is given below. Chapter 1 describes the basic transportation planning requirements within North Carolina. The chapter lists the steps that occur before a project is even considered for funding. Chapter 2 provides the legal framework for road building in North Carolina. There are many legal requirements that must be fulfilled before a roadway can be built or modified. Chapter 3 describes the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and how it affects new transportation projects in the state of North Carolina. NEPA is the main environmental legislation that affects the development of a transportation project. Chapter 4 describes the main elements of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). An EIS is required when a roadway project will have a significant effect on the environment. Only the most complex projects will write an EIS, but the projects that do complete this step are usually large projects that significantly alter the transportation network.