Suffolk City Council on Wednesday voted to approve a plan that moves forward funding for two new schools in North Suffolk, as well as a slate of other projects.

“I’m very excited about the new schools in northern Suffolk,” Councilman Lue Ward, who represents part of North Suffolk,” said during Wednesday’s session regarding the capital improvements plan.

The capital improvements plan is prepared annually and looks at 10 years of buildings, road improvements, utility projects, recreation facilities, fire engines and other big-ticket items. It also examines how the city plans to pay for them.

Now that City Council has approved the plan, the first year of projects is advanced to the budget process, where funding must be approved.

The first year of this plan includes more than $68 million in projects, including utility, refuse and stormwater projects.

The plan funds $13 million for the new middle school and $13.7 million for the new elementary school. Previous funding and smaller amounts in the following fiscal year also will fund the construction.

“I just want to thank you for your support,” Superintendent Dr. Deran Whitney said during the public hearing.

Several council members said the schools took priority in this plan. They hope other projects, including transportation and recreation, can be addressed in future years now that the schools are taken care of.

“Next year, we can prioritize some other big projects,” Vice Mayor Leroy Bennett said.

Also funded in the plan are turns lanes at the intersection of Nansemond Parkway and Wilroy Road, which officials hope will relieve the problem of huge backups when a train is on the tracks and most drivers want to turn away from the tracks.

Public Works Director Eric Nielsen said construction should start in the summer or fall of this year.

About $100,000 also is planned for a study on a North Suffolk connector, which would create a new roadway between Nansemond Parkway and Shoulders Hill Road and bypass two railroad crossings.

Other transportation projects include construction on Nansemond Parkway and Holland Road and improvements to the intersections at Nansemond Parkway and Bennetts Pasture Road; Kings Highway and Godwin Boulevard and the off-ramp from Route 58 at Godwin Boulevard. Harbour View-area signal improvements are also funded.

Other big-ticket items in the first year of the plan include the demolition of the old Southwestern Elementary School and stabilization of the historic Nansemond County Training School beside it; a new fire engine; replacement of security cameras at both police precincts; improvements at the Suffolk Executive Airport, including a parking lot expansion and rehabilitation of a taxiway and a runway; a new transfer station for trash; and drainage improvements in the Pughsville and Respass Beach areas.

More than $48 million in debt is proposed to pay for the projects, along with local cash and state and federal funds and grants.