Transportation Projects—Conception to Completion

From conception to completion, building a road should take between 5 and 21 years, depending on perceived need, technical issues, growth rate, and available funding. However, controversial projects and orphan projects can take much longer to deliver. The major phases in building a road include a feasibility study, obtaining initial funding, planning, design, purchasing right-of-way, and construction. All projects begin in the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) where the initial need, local consensus, and local support are developed. Obtaining initial funding is critical in moving a road project from the LRTP to the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), where the project can then proceed through a planning process that involves environmental mitigation, traffic forecast, permit application, and public involvement. This map of transportation projects within the High Point Metropolitan Planning Organization area illustrates the updates in project status for the 2007–2013 TIP. The symbology was designed to allow for quick identification of project status changes and projects that were unfunded or under construction.

Courtesy of City of High Point Department of Transportation.