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NCDOT presents draft update to Bertie County comprehensive transportation plan; commissioners ask for time to review
Summary
NCDOT and the Peanut Belt Rural Planning Organization presented a draft update to Bertie County's Comprehensive Transportation Plan, outlining highway, bicycle and pedestrian, and intersection recommendations. Commissioners asked for more time and signaled they will consider adoption after town endorsements and follow-up.
NCDOT transportation planners on behalf of the Peanut Belt Rural Planning Organization presented the final draft of the Bertie County Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) and asked the Board of Commissioners to endorse it for later prioritization and funding.
The plan is a high-level, long-range needs assessment that covers all travel modes — highway, bicycle and pedestrian, and multiuse paths — and is intended to support future project funding. Amanda Killian, NCDOT’s transportation planning division, said the county’s last CTP was completed in 2015 and that the current update began in March 2023 with a steering committee and two public review sessions.
Commissioners and members of the public asked about specific recommendations. The draft lists multiple highway projects, including improvements to US 17/NC 87 corridor and a recommendation to modernize portions of NC 11 (including a widening to four lanes in the Olyphant/Allenton inset). NCDOT staff also noted a proposed roundabout at the intersection of NC 11 and NC 308, based on public input and engineering analysis. Killian said detailed design, right-of-way, and construction would be addressed later during project development and funding prioritization.
On bicycle and pedestrian recommendations, planners showed town-level insets with proposed sidewalks and multiuse paths intended to improve downtown connectivity in Windsor, Aulander, Robersonville and other towns. The CTP team said they coordinated with the county’s “Destination Bertie” work to align pedestrian recommendations with economic development goals.
Commissioners sought changes and the ability to request more study on certain items — notably the proposed roundabout at NC 11 and NC 308 because of large-truck traffic. Commissioner discussion resulted in a request to delay county adoption to allow the towns that have not yet acted to take the plan up and for the county to gather more local input. A motion to table formal county adoption until the board’s next work session on April 21 (to allow for further review and possible amendments) was made and accepted.
Next steps described by NCDOT include finalizing a user-friendly booklet after all municipalities have adopted the plan, endorsement by the Peanut Belt RPO, and final adoption by the N.C. Board of Transportation. County adoption is one step in that sequence; municipalities’ endorsements and RPO action are prerequisites for NCDOT’s prioritization process.
The presenters emphasized the CTP’s role as a planning, not funding, document: inclusion in the CTP helps projects score higher when later submitted for funding.
Provenance: NCDOT presentation and public/commissioner discussion occurred in the transcript beginning with the NCDOT presentation and continuing through the board’s decision to delay adoption for further review.
