FAYETTEVILLE – Several roads in Bladen,
Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett and Robeson counties, which comprise Highway
Division 6, will get paved shoulders and improved intersections, thanks to a new
way to fund smaller highway projects.
The N.C. Department of Transportation worked with the General
Assembly last year to establish the Mobility/Modernization Fund as a way to
speed up smaller-scale road work outside of the Strategic Transportation Investments process, which is how other
projects are prioritized and built. A portion of this new fund, called the High
Impact/Low Cost Project Program, provides about $1.7 million a year for each of
the state’s 14 highway divisions.
“This new program allowed our department to identify and fund
low-cost projects that will really benefit local communities,” said Terry
Hutchens, the state Transportation Board member for Division 6.
Grady Hunt, an at-large member of state transportation board from
Robeson County, said the department’s $1.1 million contract last year to build a
roundabout outside Lumberton is an example of the kind of successful projects
that could be built more quickly using the new fund.
Much of the money will be used to add two feet of paved shoulder to
either side of the following roads over the next two years:
- Cumberland County: Beaver Dam Road
between Hollow Bridge and Stedman Cedar Creek roads; Slocumb Road between
McBryde and Collier Chapel roads; West Reeves Bridge/Wire Road between U.S. 401
and the Harnett County line;
- Harnett County: Hodges Chapel Road
between U.S. 301 and I-95; Piney Grove Rawls Road between U.S. 401 and the Wake
County line; Old U.S. 421 between McDougald and Willie Cameron roads;
- Columbus County: West Railroad Street
between Cherry and Church streets; Cherry Street/Cherry Grove Road between Rough
and Ready Road and West Railroad Street; Church Street/Powell Street between
West Railroad Street and U.S. 76; and Fronis Strickland Road between N.C. 904
and the South Carolina line; and
- Robeson County: N.C. 71 between N.C. 20
and N.C. 211.
With the exception of West Reeves Bridge/Wire road in Cumberland
County, the roads that will be widened also will be resurfaced this year from a
different source of money. NCDOT’s Division 6 staff consulted with local
transportation officials on the Metropolitan and Rural Planning organizations to
develop criteria and select 15 projects across the division.
The new program also will allow NCDOT to construct left turn lanes
at the following intersections:
- N.C. 210 at North Willow Street in Harnett
County
- N.C. 211 at Elwell Ferry Road and N.C. 87 at Baltimore Road in
Bladen County
- U.S. 701 at Bill Hooks Road in Columbus
County
Greg Burns, the Division 6 Engineer,
said the improvements, which are going to secondary routes that generally have
55 mph speed limits, will give motorists additional pavement, which will reduce
the potential for vehicles veering off the road. Providing a left-turn lane will
allow motorists on the affected highways to turn without impeding
through-traffic at an intersection.
Contact: Andrew Barksdale
919-707-2662
acbarksdale@ncdot.gov