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Roads and Transportation
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March 2, 2008 - According to the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT), the plan to four-lane N.C. 211 from N.C. 87 to Midway Road is barely off the drawing board, and plenty could change. But that didn’t restrain locals from submitting their concerns to the traffic engineers at an informational workshop on the project Tuesday.
Residents with homes and businesses along the 6.6 miles of corridor to be widened were worried their properties would fall into DOT’s redrawn rights-of-way and they would have to rebuild elsewhere.
On a four-lane road, the right-of-way stretches 75 feet each side of the center line.
Buddy Barnes, owner of Wildwood Landscaping, said his property is currently about 12 feet from the right-of-way stretching across N.C. 211, which is currently a two-lane highway.
“If DOT has to extend their right-of-way, my business will have to be bulldozed and I’ll have to rebuild it,” said Barnes. “I’m going to get nailed. My property is an acre right now. But if it gets cut back to half an acre from this new right-of-way, it won’t be worth squat.”
Barnes added that he supports the need for an improved N.C. 211, but said it would be a “hardship” on many other property owners in a similar situation.
Jay McInnis, DOT’s project engineer for the widening, facilitated the workshop, and said that currently, the road averages 11,000 to 18,000 car trips per day. It is the major vein linking Southport to U.S. 17 at Supply, and handles heavy volumes of Oak Island and Caswell Beach traffic coming in off Long Beach Road.
Widening the road to four lanes, divided by a 30-foot median, would loosen some of the congestion, he said.
At DOT offices, this project is called R-5021, and is on their Transportation Improvement Program for Brunswick County, listing projects of priority for supporting travel aligned with heavy regional growth. By Ben Brown Read Local feedback not all positive on DOT’s four-lane proposal
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N.C. road building still mired in politics |
Feb 3, 2007 - Nearly 10 years ago, state legislators championed a series of reforms for the scandal-plagued N.C. Board of Transportation that were intended to take the politics out of building roads.
Future appointees would have to disclose their political fundraising. Five of the 19 seats would be reserved for people with special skills in such fields as the environment and mass transit. Members would have to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
"The board's policies, effectiveness and integrity are important to almost every citizen," Beverly Perdue, then a state senator, said on Sept. 23, 1998, the day the bill cleared the legislature. "The public has demanded reform, and this bill lays the groundwork."
That groundwork has proven a weak foundation. A decade after Perdue hailed the reform law, the 19-member DOT board remains a plum spot for big political fundraisers who continue to ignore conflicts of interest and the wider needs of the state beyond their own districts.
For example:
* The fundraising disclosure rule is toothless. The only fundraising that board members must disclose is contributions directly handed to them. Asking people to give to a campaign or holding fundraisers -- two common ways to raise campaign money -- aren't considered fundraising on disclosure forms.
* Two of the five seats intended to bring more professionalism to the board have been given to fundraisers best known for running restaurant chains.
* Conflicts of interest continue to surface. Last month, board member Thomas Betts Jr. of Rocky Mount resigned after he sought to raise $20,000 in campaign money from country singer Randy Parton and the others behind the struggling performing arts theater in Roanoke Rapids. Betts had directed $2.5 million in road work to the theater over the previous year. He sought campaign money for Perdue, now lieutenant governor, who is seeking to be the next governor.
* Some at-large members, who are supposed to look out for the entire state, are steering their discretionary money to their home districts.
The board oversees a department with a $3.8 billion budget and a serious public image problem. By Dan Kane and Benjamin NoiletNearly 10 years ago, state legislators championed a series of reforms for the scandal-plagued N.C. Board of Transportation that were intended to take the politics out of building roads.
Future appointees would have to disclose their political fundraising. Five of the 19 seats would be reserved for people with special skills in such fields as the environment and mass transit. Members would have to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
"The board's policies, effectiveness and integrity are important to almost every citizen," Beverly Perdue, then a state senator, said on Sept. 23, 1998, the day the bill cleared the legislature. "The public has demanded reform, and this bill lays the groundwork."
That groundwork has proven a weak foundation. A decade after Perdue hailed the reform law, the 19-member DOT board remains a plum spot for big political fundraisers who continue to ignore conflicts of interest and the wider needs of the state beyond their own districts.
For example:
* The fundraising disclosure rule is toothless. The only fundraising that board members must disclose is contributions directly handed to them. Asking people to give to a campaign or holding fundraisers -- two common ways to raise campaign money -- aren't considered fundraising on disclosure forms.
* Two of the five seats intended to bring more professionalism to the board have been given to fundraisers best known for running restaurant chains.
* Conflicts of interest continue to surface. Last month, board member Thomas Betts Jr. of Rocky Mount resigned after he sought to raise $20,000 in campaign money from country singer Randy Parton and the others behind the struggling performing arts theater in Roanoke Rapids. Betts had directed $2.5 million in road work to the theater over the previous year. He sought campaign money for Perdue, now lieutenant governor, who is seeking to be the next governor.
* Some at-large members, who are supposed to look out for the entire state, are steering their discretionary money to their home districts.
The board oversees a department with a $3.8 billion budget and a serious public image problem. By Dan Kane and Benjamin Noilet |
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Dec 27, 2007 - State highway officials will build a two-lane road connecting Southport, Oak Island and Boiling Spring Lakes’ main gateways instead of hitching a ride with private developers offering to construct a longer, four-lane divided highway as an alternative.
Brunswick County commissioners and Southport aldermen have asked the Department of Transportation to put aside a 1.7-mile, two-lane connector from N.C. 211 just west of Long Beach Road to N.C. 133 south of the intersection of N.C. 87 at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point. Instead, they favor plans by developers for a larger, four-mile highway linking N.C. 211 at Long Beach Road to N.C. 87 south of Boiling Spring Lakes city limits.
DOT secretary Lyndo Tippett told developers in a letter this week that the state “will continue with our present project.” He questioned whether the private proposal could meet environmental rules because the design is conceptual and not based on detailed surveys. Wetlands and endangered species — including red-cockaded woodpeckers and the rough-leaved loosestrife plant — are clearly accommodated in DOT’s plan. By Lee Hinnant Read DOT says it’ll build two-lane Long Beach Road connector
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County schooled on road funding |
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Dec 14, 2007 - North Carolina’s price tag on much-needed road upgrades over the next 25 years has hit $122 billion — about $65 billion more than the state can afford. Without relief, the state’s unprecedented growth will crush its existing highway system, crippling economic development, many contend.
Hoping to lighten the load and prepare for the influx, the N.C. General Assembly in August passed a bill that allows counties to voluntarily fund road projects. If a county has funds available, it won’t have to wait on the state to widen a congested corridor or resurface a potholed street.
But as many Brunswick County officials have noted, counties aren’t in the road business, and those wanting to participate carry a list of questions as to how it’s done.
Booming Brunswick County is one of the few that has expressed interest in the pricey prospect, and seeking answers on its behalf, commissioners May Moore and Tom Rabon took part in “Share the Roads: Understanding the County Role in Transportation Funding,” an educational conference held in the Quorum Center in Raleigh on Thursday, presented by the N.C. Association of County Commissioners (NCACC). By Ben Brown Read Road Funding |
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Brunswick leg of U.S. 17 Bypass delayed |
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Nov 26, 2007 - Motorists might have to wait an extra year for the Brunswick County leg of the U.S. 17 Wilmington Bypass, according to the state's latest transportation funding proposal.
Under the proposal, the first chunk of money for construction of the Brunswick leg would be pushed from 2011 to 2012. That would postpone its completion to 2015 or beyond. When built, the road will connect U.S. 17 south of N.C. 87 in Brunswick County to Interstate 40 in New Hanover County.
The change means a delay in reducing the congestion on existing roads, including U.S. 17 in Wilmington and Brunswick County, and the cost of the project is likely to increase as well.
The N.C. Department of Transportation still plans to begin acquiring land for the project in 2008. Meanwhile, the N.C. Turnpike Authority is studying the possibility of making that stretch a toll road to help pay for the proposed Cape Fear Skyway Bridge to connect New Hanover and Brunswick counties. By Patrick Gannon |
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