RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in NCDOT Now, the department's weekly newscast.
Toyota Battery Plant
This week, Toyota announced plans to build the company’s first battery plant in North America. This $1.29 billion investment will be in Randolph County at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite and is expected to create over 1,700 new jobs.
During For the project’s first phase, the state’s General Assembly has appropriated $135 million to be used by the N.C. Department of Transportation for road, highway interchange and other site improvements.
Tree of Life
Last week, the
N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program and North Carolina Mothers Against Drunk Driving held in downtown Raleigh the annual Tree of Life ceremony, which honored and memorialized those killed in car crashes in 2020. Speakers from NCDOT, NC MADD, and the state Department of Public Safety spoke at the 24th annual event, followed by a candlelight vigil.
This year’s tree featured 1,658 white, red and blue ornaments – one for each traffic crash victim in 2020. The 412 red ornaments represented the victims of alcohol-related crashes. The two blue ornaments honored the law enforcement officers killed last year.
For more information about NCDOT Now, contact the NCDOT Communications Office at (919) 707-2660. Additional news stories from throughout the week can be found on
NCDOT.gov.