Does the Merger Process slow down the Project Development and Environmental Analysis (PD&EA) phase?
The Merger Process may cause the appearance that the project development and environmental analysis phase has slowed down. However, there are several important aspects to the Merger Process that may outweigh any perceived delays: Early stakeholder involvement during planning, better quality decisions, and less likelihood of permit issuance delays. FHWA and other agencies have found that certain “EA-type” projects placed into the Merger Process at Concurrence Point 1 (Purpose and Need) can be ‘processed’ through merger within 2 to 3 years. Combining appropriate concurrence points and taking advantage of other FHWA/NCDOT streamlining provisions can also speed up the project development and environmental analysis phase. • Who determines which projects go into the Merger Process and which ones do not? the Merger Process owner agencies (NCDOT, FHWA, NCDENR and USACE) decide which projects go into the Merger process using the screening criteria contained in the Merger Process Guidelines. The
