Good morning and thank you Paul for that introduction.
I want to thank Paul for his hard work on the North Carolina Board of Transportation.
Your commitment to improving transportation is paying off for the citizens who call this region "home."
I also want to thank your president, Carlisle Harrell, for extending such a kind invitation to me to join you today.
I met Carlisle-and several other members of the Southern Albemarle Association-in August at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Fairfield Bridge on N.C. 94 in Hyde County.
That was a great event not just for Hyde County-but for the other five counties that are represented by the Southern Albermale Association.
I was impressed by the outstanding turnout of interested citizens-many of whom had a personal connection to the Fairfield Bridge.
What impressed me most, however, was the unity displayed that day-by the people who attended and by the members of the Southern Albemarle Association.
You live and work in different counties-and represent various interests with a wide range of goals and priorities.
Yet, you recognized early that to achieve your collective goal of improving transportation in this region you would have to come together as a region.
After all, there is strength in unity.
For more than 65 years, the Southern Albemarle Association has provided a strong and unified voice for transportation in this area.
So it is my pleasure to come back today to update you on our other successes in this area-and throughout the state.
Providing quality transportation for all citizens is DOT's charge-and part of Governor Easley's vision for One North Carolina.
When I was named Secretary back in January, I made a commitment that the Governor's goals for the state's transportation system are realized.
That commitment is illustrated best in the department's transportation goals and priorities.
These goals are helping us achieve our mission to provide a safe, well-maintained and integrated system that provides for the transportation needs of citizens statewide.
Our number one priority is maintenance -- and reducing the maintenance backlog.
We must take care of what generations before us have worked so hard to build.
We understand that smooth and well-maintained roads are safe roads-so maintenance is a crucial goal in our efforts to make sure that our highways are safe.
To continue to be "The Good Roads State," and to keep up with our state's booming population, we must be able to maintain the roads that we build.
We've worked with the General Assembly to help us eliminate this maintenance backlog.
Last month, the General Assembly passed a special provision in the budget bill that will allow the department to use a portion of its cash balances for maintenance during the next three years.
This landmark action will enable the Department to invest about $420 million in maintenance from the mountains to the coast.
In the first year, the department will be able to improve about 400 miles of highways across the state.
We appreciate the General Assembly's recognition of the importance of maintenance to our state's prosperity.
And it's important for you to know that we are moving ahead as soon as possible with much needed maintenance projects.
In November and December of this year, the Board of Transportation is scheduled to approve maintenance projects totaling $153 million.
Construction on these projects will begin as soon as weather permits.
Because there are two more years left in the program-$135 million in both the second and their third years-other important maintenance projects will be completed across the state as part of this effort.
Contracts for maintenance projects for the second year will be let in 2002 and, for the third year, in 2003.
This program will include projects for this area-and we'll be announcing this soon.
We're also focusing on our urban areas-looking at ways we can provide mass transit systems and increase capacity on our overloaded highways.
These measures range from traditional highway capacity improvements such as widening or adding lanes-to freeway management systems which involve Intelligent Transportation Systems such as traffic cameras, overhead message signs, reversible lanes and HOV lanes.
And while we look for ways to reduce congestion in our urban areas, we will not forget the needs of our rural areas.
For our rural communities, we are finding ways to enhance growth while still planning for the future.
Our rural agenda began taking shape last month when the department granted a charter to establish the Mid-Carolina Rural Planning Organization-the state's first RPO, which will cover Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett and Sampson counties.
RPOs are planning organizations for rural areas-and are meant to be counterparts to our existing Metropolitan Planning Organizations or MPOs.
They will serve as the local transportation planning resource to rural areas-giving people local transportation contacts and offering citizen involvement in transportation and planning related decisions.
Our intention is that the new RPOs will develop long-range local and regional multi-modal transportation plans and provide a forum for public participation in the transportation planning process.
RPOs will also be instrumental in developing and prioritizing suggestions for transportation projects for the State's Transportation Improvement Program and providing transportation-related information to local governments and other interested organizations like the Southern Albemarle Association.
An RPO is in the works for this area-and will be announced soon, I hope by November.
This RPO, or Region R, will consist of Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Davie, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington, Gates and Chowan couties.
This is great news for our rural communities.
RPOs will give our citizens a chance to become informed and involved in decisions which impact them.
As we reach out to rural North Carolina, the department continues to work hard to protect what makes our state so special.
We plan to continue to preserve our wetlands, protect our wildlife and provide funding for projects that enhance and beautify our environment.
We will also see that all citizens have a voice in transportation decisions that affect them through our extensive public involvement and participation efforts.
Right now, we are holding a series of meetings to receive public input on the department's seven-year Transportation Improvement Program-or TIP.
The TIP is the department's blueprint for statewide transportation projects including highways, bicycles, public transportation, ferry, rail, aviation and the Governor's Highway Safety Program.
The TIP meeting for this area is scheduled for November 28 at 2 p.m. at the Town Council Chambers on South Broad Street in Edenton.
I encourage each of you to attend this meeting-to give us your input so that the TIP is an accurate and reliable plan that helps to meet the needs of this area.
Safety is another important focus on our agenda and we recently had the opportunity to highlight bicycle helmet use.
The North Carolina Child Bicycle Safety Act was passed this year by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Mike Easley.
This law, which became effective October 1, requires all children under the age of 16 to wear a helmet when riding bicycles on streets and highways.
The Child Bicycle Safety Act is an important piece of legislation that will help protect the lives of North Carolina's children.
To help promote this law, the NCDOT offered grants of up to $2000 to law enforcement agencies in each community throughout the state to purchase bicycle helmets for children of low-income families.
Funding for this new initiative came from $300,000 in federal safety funds provided by the Governor's Highway Safety Program.
I am happy to report that we were able to provide grants to more than 222 law enforcement agencies throughout the state to purchase helmets for their communities.
Locally, we awarded over $5,000 to the Beaufort, Dare, Tyrrell and Washington County Sheriff's Offices.
Grants were also awarded to the Washington, Plymouth and Williamston Police Departments.
Bicycle helmets not only save lives, but are proven to reduce head injuries by as much as 80 percent.
We owe it to our children to do all we can to guarantee their safety.
In keeping with our safety focus, I announced last week tighter measures for issuing driver licenses at DMV.
The new measures require first-time applicants to show proof of North Carolina residency to obtain a license by showing an official government or business document that proves that the applicant lives in the state.
As part of the new measures, the Driver License Section will work more closely with DMV Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on those attempting to apply for a license using fraudulent documents.
In the future, the department plans to develop an Identification Fraud Help Desk as an internal resource to help examiners validate genuine documents and identify fraudulent ones.
Now more than ever, we are committed to making sure that the license application process is not abused-and that all applicants wishing to obtain a license in this state do so in the proper, legal manner.
As we work to improve and expand our transportation network, safety will continue to be our top priority at DOT.
Before I go, I'm sure Carlisle would appreciate me updating you on some projects of particular importance to you.
I know that U.S. 64 has been a priority in your 10-year plan for highways and bridges.
DOT has been steadily working to four-lane this highway from Raleigh to the coast.
Status of U.S. 64
Another priority for this area is U.S. 17.
Some of your legislative delegation, including Representative Zeno Edwards, have recognized the importance of U.S. 17 for this region.
We know that U.S. 17 is an important corridor for economic development for eastern North Carolina.
Several segments of U.S. 17 or the Washington Bypass are now in planning or the right-of-way acquisition stage.
We are working on the draft environmental impact statement now-and expect it to be complete in June 2002.
Then, a public hearing will be scheduled for some time in August.
We are committed to working with you as plans for U.S. 17 are made.
I want to commend your organization again for your longstanding commitment to transportation issues in this area.
We will continue to count on you as valuable partners in providing quality transportation resources to the citizens whom we serve.
This is what Governor Easley means when he talks about a vision of One North Carolina.
This vision requires us to unify-and to bring together all the diverse components that make our state so great.
Working together, we will get closer to that vision.
Working together, we can make a difference.