Road transfer discussion likely to continue (NCLM Southern City)
The secretary of the state’s Department of Transportation believes there is room for improvement in the process of how to consider any possible transfer of responsibility for state roads to municipalities. The secretary shared his views during an N.C. League of Municipalities annual conference concurrent session on “Transportation in the 21st Century” and in a follow-up email.
NCDOT Secretary Gene Conti told attendees at the annual conference that he is not in favor of transferring the responsibility from the state to the cities, towns and counties, but that it is a topic for discussion.
“The process for such transfers in the past has been somewhat ad hoc and disjointed, and the DOT supports dialog with the League on a process to bring uniformity and consistency to that process,” Conti said in a follow-up.
This idea of transferring state-maintained roads to local governments was discussed during the past legislative session and was introduced in HB 881/SB 1001 – Transportation Corridor Mapping Changes. The idea was that NCDOT would reclassify state roads with an SR designation within municipal borders to cities and towns. Municipalities would then be left to maintain these 5,000 miles of roads with no clear source of additional revenues. However, the transfer language was removed from the bill thanks to the work of the League and the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition.
Sens. Dan Clodfelter and Bob Rucho co-wrote in a June Charlotte Observer piece that transferring responsibility was appropriate “since it is local planning, zoning and land use decisions that drive the need for improvements, upgrades and repairs to the local network.” They argued that today’s state roads system “is not capable of meeting the transportation needs of a state that has become dramatically more diverse and urbanized.”
However, Durham Mayor Bill Bell and High Point Mayor Becky Smothers quickly responded in a coauthored piece that this transfer would not result in an improved system but would instead result in 100 county transportation departments, thus resulting in less efficiency. They noted that revenues for transportation are continuing to shrink while demands on roads are increasing.
“As we’ve stated before, the funds to care for our state’s roads are increasingly inadequate,” said Bell, vice chair of the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition and co-chair of that organization’s transportation committee, along with Smothers. “To shift that responsibility to the cities, towns and counties in this state would essentially be an unfunded mandate, the result of which would be higher city taxes for our citizens. Our cities are already doing the best they can with what they have to build and maintain roads, and our counties should not be forced to get into the ‘road business.’”
That said, NCDOT is “interested in having a dialogue with local governments about the future maintenance and construction of secondary roads within their boundaries,” Conti said. “We recognize that there are serious issues associated with any such transfer. It would not be fair to turn over responsibility for the roads without giving local governments the resources to pay for it. And many local governments don’t have the expertise or equipment to handle local road maintenance.”
NCDOT has formed an Intergovernmental Advisory Group to strengthen the relationship between NCDOT and local governments. Julie White, director of the Metro Mayors Coalition, and Paul Meyer, the League’s chief legislative counsel, both serve on this advisory group.
“The Intergovernmental Advisory Group is working to improve the communications between NCDOT and cities, among other issues,” said White. “Hopefully a more robust dialogue will result in a better understanding of all the concerns with a potential road transfer.”
