RALEIGH – N.C. Department of Transportation engineers have started to assess Hurricane Florence-affected roads so necessary repairs can be made in the hard-hit areas in eastern North Carolina.
State transportation engineers are assessing sections of 72 primary and secondary roads damaged in NCDOT’s Division 2, which includes Beaufort, Carteret, Pitt, Craven, Greene, Pamlico, Jones and Lenoir counties.
Many roads are flooded in areas, while others are blocked in areas by debris downed when Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach Sept. 14 before making its slow, rain-drenched trek across North Carolina.
NCDOT maintenance crews have cut and removed debris from nearly all primary and secondary roads that are not flooded, except in Carteret, Craven, Pamlico and Jones counties. NCDOT colleagues in neighboring Division 1, just to the north, sent 36 employees to Division 2 to help erect barricades and signs, and repair damaged roads.
The main roads damaged in the coastal division include:
- Greene County – N.C. 58 northbound at the Wilson County line was closed early in the morning on Tuesday due to flooding of the Contentnea Creek.
- Jones County – N.C. 41 is closed due to high waters; N.C. 58 is closed in Trenton; and U.S. 17 in Pollocksville is closed.
- Lenoir County – N.C. 11 southbound is closed at Skinner’s Bypass in Kinston.
Signal crews are also focused on restoring signal functions along U.S. 70. Currently, signals are operational from Kinston to Newport where power is available.
NCDOT division engineers are also assessing storm impacts to 65 secondary roads with closures.
NCDOT is working with the N.C. State Highway Patrol, Emergency Management, National Guard and the U.S. Department of Defense as well as local law enforcement to ensure critical personnel and supplies can be delivered to impacted areas.
For the most up-to-date information on road conditions, go to DriveNC.gov.