The Albemarle Rural Planning Organization (ARPO) serves Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties.
Rural Planning Organizations were formed, by the North Carolina General Assembly, in order to involve rural county and municipal governments as well as the public in transportation issues in their regions.
Committees
The ARPO is made up of of RPO administrative staff and two Boards; the Rural Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) and the Rural Transportation Coordinating Committee (RTCC).
- The RTAC consists of one elected official from each County, one elected official from each municipality and NCDOT staff. The RTAC is the policy making body of the RPO and is currently chaired by Pasquotank County Commissioner Lloyd Griffin.
- The RTCC is made up of one planner or county manager from each county and one planner or municipal government manager from each municipality. The RTCC is the advisory committee to the TAC. The RTCC is currently chaired by Columbia Town Manager Rhett White.
Transportation Planning in Rural Areas
The Albemarle Commission has served as the lead planning agency for the ARPO since May 2002. Since that time, the RPO has been working cooperatively with the NC Department of Transportation, local officials and citizens to enhance transportation planning opportunities for rural areas in the ten county region.
The ARPO is responsible for:
- Developing long-range transportation plans for the region
- Providing transportation-related data to local governments
- Developing and prioritizing projects for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
- Providing a forum for public involvement in the transportation planning process.
- Participating in the merger process.