RALEIGH – A new funding plan for smaller
highway projects from the General Assembly means several roads in area counties
will be strengthened and resurfaced to remove posted weight limits. They will
allow more types of heavier vehicles to use these roads and in turn help promote
future development in those areas.
The N.C. Department of Transportation worked with the General
Assembly last year to establish the Division Mobility/Modernization Fund. It is
a way to speed up smaller-scale road work outside of the Strategic Transportation Investments process, which is how most
larger projects are prioritized, funded and built. The new program provides
about $1.7 million a year for each of the state’s 14 highway divisions.
In Division 5, the funding will pay for 15 projects over the next
two years in Wake, Durham, Franklin, Warren, Person, Vance and Granville
counties.
“It is a great way to expedite lower-cost projects that improve
mobility and safety in communities throughout the division,” said Valerie
Jordan, who represents Division 5 on the Board of Transportation.
Much of the money for Division 5 will be used for road
strengthening, including:
- Durham County – Page Road between Chin Page Road and TW Alexander
Drive;
- Warren County – Rooker Dairy Road;
- Franklin County – Tant Road;
- Vance County – North Cokesbury Road, South Cokesbury Road, Tower
Road and Milton Stainback Road; and
- Wake County – Pleasant Grove Church Road between Nelson Road and
Airport Boulevard.
Other types of projects being funded include:
- Person County – Putting a mini-roundabout at the intersection of
Morgan Road and Long Road;
- Vance County – Widening Beckford Road to put in a center turn
lane;
- Wake County – Adding signalized pedestrian crosswalks and a
signalized left turn lane for Old Lead Mine Road at Forum Drive, and for
Heritage Lake Road at Heritage Club Avenue; adding left turn lane and
intersection traffic signals at Optimist Farm Road and Pierce Olive Road; and
helping fund a local government project to add signalized pedestrian crosswalks
at Wake Forest High School; and
- Durham County – Pedestrian improvements at various intersections
near the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.