About the Plan

The Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization (BGMPO) is the federally designated agency responsible for working with residents and local, state, and federal agencies to coordinate transportation planning and project development within the Burlington urbanized area. Federal legislation requires urbanized areas with populations greater than 50,000 to have an MPO to carry out the transportation planning process among the member jurisdictions within its established planning area boundary.

The BGMPO provides transportation planning for:

• City of Burlington
• City of Graham
• City of Mebane
• Town of Elon
• Town of Gibsonville
• Town of Green Level
• Town of Haw River
• Town of Whitsett
• Village of Alamance
• Alamance County
• Portions of Guilford and Orange County

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What is a Transportation Safety Plan?

Relation to North Carolina Strategic Highway Safety Plan

A highway safety plan is essential for the Burlington-Graham region to contribute to North Carolina’s Highway Safety Improvement Program which aims to reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. In 2019, Burlington ranked ninth for number of car crashes against all other cities in North Carolina. Although it is impossible to completely eradicate crash-causing behavior such as impaired or aggressive driving, there are certain road features that reduce the likelihood of car crashes and can be controlled such as appropriate speed limits, median barriers, adequate roadway lighting, and more. All road users deserve safe and forgiving streets.

There are 5 E’s to highway safety: education, enforcement, engineering, emergency services, and everyone. All vehicle operators, regardless of age or ability, must understand fully the correct ways of maneuvering a vehicle while following all road signs and rules. Law enforcement officers must present consequences to drivers who break laws. Road engineers, where we come in, must do what we can to design and implement safe roads and road features. Emergency vehicle operators must arrive to the scene of a car crash as quickly as they can to provide appropriate assistance, without causing a different crash on their way. And finally, it is the responsibility of everyone, even non-drivers to help keep roads safe by not distracting drivers or by being a vigilant and defensive driver. This plan identifies significant contributing factors in crashes and proposes implementation strategies with the most potential to address those crashes.

Potential Target Areas

The Burlington-Graham plan is arranged by target areas which group areas of emphasis that relate to similar road users, types of crashes, or other attributes. This structure reinforces the importance of overlapping road issues and creates a plan for execution. The following briefly introduces potential target areas confirmed by regional transportation stakeholders.

• Human Behavior
  • Speed
  • Alertness
  • Seatbelts
  • Substance Impaired Driving
  • Aggressive Driving
• Road Users
  • Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and Personal Mobility
  • Young/New Drivers
  • Older Drivers
  • Motorcyclists
• Roadway Infrastructure
  • Intersections
  • Lane Departure
  • Speed Limit Signs
• Data and Evaluation
  • Emerging Issues and Data
• A Culture of Safety
  • All Emphasis Areas

Team and Committee Members

Project Team Members

• VHB
• BGMPO
• NCDOT

Transportation Safety Committee Members

• Brian Mayhew - NCDOT Safety Unit
• Brian Murphy - NCDOT Safety Unit
• Andy Bailey - NCDOT-TPD
• Wannetta Mallette - BGMPO
• Nish Trivedi - Orange County Public Trasnportation
• Cy Stober - Orange County
• Tonya Caddle - Alamance County
• Mary Beth Murphy - Guilford County
• Steve Carter - Alamance County
• Audrey Vogel - Mebane
• Melody Wiggins - Graham
• Stephen Robinson - NCDOT Division 7
• Suzette Morales - FHWA
• Ann Meletzke - Cone Health
• Brian Tennent - Burlington
• William Mauney - Alamance County Rescue
• Nicole Cockerham - State Farm Insurance
• Jaimee Cousin - Green Level
• Officer Douglas Bowens - NC Department of Public Safety
• Daniel Cada - Member of Public
• Alex Rotenberry - NCDOT-IMD