BY KARISSA MILLER
Iredell County commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a countywide transportation master plan during their meeting Tuesday night.
The purpose of the Iredell County Transportation Master Plan is to create a future vision and recommendations for the transportation system in unincorporated Iredell County.
Elected officials will be able to take a more proactive approach to transportation planning, reconcile gaps and inconsistences in municipal plans and establish a mechanism for identifying and submitting projects for funding.
The master plan outlines a comprehensive transportation strategy that focuses on managing congestion, improving mobility and safety, and positioning the county to meet future transportation needs.
The plan considers all surface transportation modes and was developed in partnership with local municipalities, NCDOT, transit providers, and transportation professionals.
According to Planning Director Matthew Todd, the committee held two rounds of public engagement during the yearlong process, and specifically solicited feedback from businesses and the municipalities within Iredell County.
Chairman James Mallory explained that the State of North Carolina and municipalities build roads.
The way state funds those, he said, is through transportation organizations. Iredell County belongs to the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization.
This process is designed to rack and stack through different transportation organizations based on priorities centered on a multitude of factors, but mostly focused on congestion.
“Unfortunately, we can’t say this is a nice place for a road to be planned because we may need it in the future,” Mallory said. “Roads in North Carolina are built after the need is demonstrated and people are complaining because of the congestion.”
The unincorporated areas have not had a plan before, he said.
OTHER BUSINESS
During the meeting, commissioners also:
• Recognized Iredell County Public library employee Lisa McBroom for being the recipient of the William H. Roberts Public Library Distinguished Service Award.
• Held a public hearing and voted to approve text amendments to the Iredell County Voluntary Enhanced Farmland Preservation Ordinances.
• Approved a request from Planning and Development to consider calling for a public hearing on December 7 at 7 p.m. in regard to a text amendment to the Land Development Code.
• Approved a request from the City of Statesville for approval to allocate $42,607 as the 5 percent share of a grant received from the N.C. Department of Transportation Aviation Division for Land Acquisition-Runway 10 Runway Project zone.
• Approved a request from Solid Waste for the approval of an agreement with Carlson Environmental Consultants in the amount of $96,840.
• Approved a request from the Health Department to write-off uncollected patient accounts in the amount of $35,912.75.