Transportation | Transportation Planning

In a growing and diverse area like the Catawba Region, effective solutions are essential to sustaining growth and ensuring long-term vitality. The region’s strategic location—anchored by its proximity to the major economic hub of Charlotte, North Carolina, and its access via Interstate 77, along with numerous critical U.S. and South Carolina highways—makes comprehensive transportation planning a cornerstone of healthy regional development.

The Catawba Regional Council of Governments has a strong track record of helping communities secure funding to expand and rehabilitate vital transportation corridors. Beyond funding support, we provide expertise in transportation corridor planning, long-range transportation plan development, and maintain a long-standing cooperative relationship with the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Together, these efforts ensure that resources are allocated wisely and investments deliver the greatest benefit to the communities we serve across the Catawba Region.

CRCOG’s Role in Regional Transportation Planning

The Catawba Regional Council of Governments (CRCOG) is dedicated to helping build an efficient, multi-modal transportation system that strengthens mobility for both people and goods across the Catawba Region. Working in close partnership with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), CRCOG takes an active role in shaping the region’s transportation future. Together, we advance long-range planning initiatives that address highway infrastructure, public transit, and specialized planning studies, while adapting to emerging needs.

Through collaboration with local jurisdictions, CRCOG identifies and prioritizes community-driven projects, ensuring that regional transportation investments align with economic development goals and quality-of-life improvements. By providing targeted recommendations to SCDOT for highway and transit funding, CRCOG helps position the Catawba Region for continued growth, stronger connectivity, and long-term prosperity.

CRCOG Transportation Advisory Committee

Each COG maintains a regional transportation advisory committee (TAC) with representatives from local government, transportation providers, and special interest groups. The COGs are encouraged to include representatives from the SCDOT, MPO staff if appropriate, a representative from the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) if appropriate, transportation providers, County Transportation Committee (CTC), planning, zoning, and public works officials, community leaders, school district representatives, as well as underserved populations.

Regional Transportation Partners

South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT)
SCDOT District 4 and County Contact Information
Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study (RFATS) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
York County Pennies for Progress
Lancaster County Transportation
Chester County Public Works
Charlotte Regional Alliance for Transportation (CRAFT)
Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (MPO)
Centralina Regional Council
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

SCDOT Documents and Programs

SCDOT Momentum 2050 Multimodal Transportation Plan

Momentum 2050 — managed by the Office of Planning of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) — provides and opportunity for the Department to build upon the currently adopted 2040 SMTP, enhance public outreach and stakeholder involvement efforts, update the vision, goals, and objectives, document environmental and cultural resources, prepare for emerging technologies, leverage data analytics to assess performance-based needs, and develop investment strategies. The result of these efforts will culminate in an adopted 2050 SMTP.

Momentum 2050 will provide long-term guidance for the development of transportation programs and will establish strategies to achieve South Carolina’s transportation goals for a 25-year period. The statewide multimodal transportation plan is updated every five years to reflect the latest information on travel and growth trends, goals and objectives, infrastructure conditions, future deficiencies, and estimated funding.

SCDOT Strategic 10-Year Asset Management Plan (STAMP)

Transportation asset management is defined as a “strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, and improving physical assets, with a focus on engineering and economic analysis based upon quality information to identify a structured sequence of maintenance, preservation, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement actions that will achieve and sustain a desired state of good repair over the lifecycle of the assets at minimum practicable cost (23 U.S.C.1010(a)(2)).

SCDOT Public Participation Plan

Projects and Data

SCDOT Active Projects
SCDOT Active Pavement Projects 2025

SCDOT maintains a listing of active projects in the Catawba Region and statewide.

CRCOG Planning Documents and Programs

FY 2025-2026 through 2026-2027 Rural Planning Work Program (RPWP)

The FY 2025-2026 Rural Planning Work Program (RPWP) describes the transportation planning activities undertaken by our office and is produced annually. Tasks included in the RPWP result from issues identified by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the CRCOG Board, which serves as the Policy Committee. In the fall of 2022, State Planning and Research funding from the SCDOT increased from $85,000 to $125,000 annually, with a 20% local match funding totaling $156,250.

State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP)

The STIP is organized according to DOT District Offices. The Catawba Region is covered by SCDOT District 4, which is responsible for the Catawba Region and other District 4 counties.

Transportation Alternative Program (TAP)

The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) (officially known as the “Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside”) is a Federal reimbursement grant program funded through the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

The Transportation Alternatives Program allows local governments and other eligible entities to apply for grants for a variety of non-motorized transportation projects. The Transportation Alternatives Program was initially authorized under the 2012 Federal Transportation Funding Act, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), and it replaced the early Transportation Enhancement grant program. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) continues funding the TA set aside through 2026.

2025-2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)

The 2025-2050 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) is a comprehensive transportation planning document for the Catawba region’s four counties. The LRTP defines our region’s overarching goals for transportation, establishes the region’s current and future transportation needs, and allocates projected revenue to transportation programs and projects that address those needs.

2025-2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan Document
Appendix A: SCDOT Statewide Transportation Planning Process
Appendix B: Priority Projects and Selection Methodology
Appendix C: CRCOG Public Participation Plan
Appendix D: CRCOG Board Members
Appendix E: CRCOG Transportation Advisory Committee
Appendix F: FAST Act Performance Measures
Appendix F-1: 2024 State of South Carolina State Transportation Asset Management Plan (STAMP) System Performance Report
Appendix F-2: FY 2021-2025 Safety Targets
Appendix G: SCDOT Complete Streets Directive
Appendix H: Regional Mobility Program Priority Corridors
Appendix I: Current SCDOT/CRCOG Planning Agreement

Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

The Catawba Region TIP outlines the planning objectives, priority status, and funding source for all projects scheduled for construction over a seven-year period (Current TIP window). The TIP is submitted to SCDOT for approval and inclusion in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STIP accounts for federal highway funds approved by the SCDOT Commission for roadway improvements and specific public transit allocations. Below are the links to the FY 2024-2033 TIP Financial Sheet and TIP Narrative.

FY 2024-2033 TIP Narrative
FY 2024-2033 TIP Financial Sheet

FY 2021-2026 CRCOG Public Participation Plan

The CRCOG Rural Transportation Public Participation Plan is intended to provide direction for public participation activities conducted by the CRCOG regional TAC and contains the vision, goals, objectives, and techniques CRCOG uses for public participation.

Transportation Planning