Sep 6, 2007 -  new state law allows counties to kick in money for improvements to public streets, highways and bridges previously under the sole control of N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Given Brunswick County’s longstanding need for roads to handle heavy development along already-busy arteries, officials are delighted at the possibilities.
“It allows counties to participate in (the improvement of roads) on the state highway system under agreement with the DOT,” said county commissioner Bill Sue, shortly after learning of the bill’s approval. Before this bill, he said, all roads in the state were under state or municipal management, and counties were not allowed to finance road improvements unless they were projects on the DOT’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) list of priorities.
“That’s a big change,” Sue continued. “The previous law said we could participate in any state TIP project as much as two years out, but it also said (any participating county) would have to pay for the whole thing. This one says municipalities can pay for part of it.”
The bill says towns and cities can receive allocations from the state highway fund for “repair, maintenance, construction, reconstruction, widening or improving streets of the municipality…” Municipalities can opt to continue receiving state funds or “have the allocation reprogrammed to fund any project on the (DOT’s) transportation improvement list.”
The TIP lists high-priority roads and bridges on the state highway system in need of construction or repair. The current TIP, which spans 2007-2013, carries a $12.3 billion total for various regional projects, including road widenings, bridge replacements and pavement improvements. County commissioners hope the new law will help local governments improve other roadways buckling under the crunch of rapid development and increased congestion.
N.C. 211 is one road the county has identified as having insufficient width to handle development. Considered a “future project,” it is on the TIP to be widened. Sue also mentioned the pending construction of the bridge from Midway Road to Oak Island, which for just under $37 million, would relieve some of the traffic choking the intersecting N.C. 211. By Ben Brown