With the recession affecting road development, current projects
are as sluggish as January asphalt while new four-lanes are still
gathering dust on the drawing board.
The N.C. Department of Transportation presented information on
current and future road projects in Watauga County during an intergovernmental
retreat Monday.
Drew Joyner, engineer with
the N.C. Department of Transportation, addresses the area
officials at Monday’s intergovernmental retreat.
Photo by Scott
Nicholson
County officials, as well as representatives from the towns of
Boone and Blowing Rock, gathered at the Broyhill Inn & Conference
Center to discuss the proposed Boone bypass, the East King Street
widening, the four-laning of U.S. 321 through Blowing Rock, and
improvements to N.C. 194 from Valle Crucis to Avery County.
NCDOT representatives on the state, division and district levels
were on hand to explain funding, construction time lines, corridor
needs, current environmental studies and transportation needs.
NCDOT Division 11 engineer Mike Pettyjohn said the state economy
had suffered along with the rest of the nation’s, with highway
funding declining as gasoline taxes and car sales declined. About
55 percent of the transportation funds comes from gas taxes, with
another 25 percent coming from automobile sales.
Pettyjohn said double-digit declines in funding are expected for
the next three years even as the cost of construction materials
continue to climb.
“All of our projects are going to be delayed,” he said,
saying the effect was statewide and that the NCDOT would have
a budget shortfall of about $300 million this year.
Pettyjohn said the proposed federal economic stimulus package
might offset the budget shortfalls, since an expected $30 billion
could be earmarked for infrastructure improvements.
Pettyjohn said the four-laning of East King Street was scheduled
to be let out for contracts in April, but a statewide freeze on
right-of-way purchases would likely delay the project.
“For our division, this is a top priority,” Pettyjohn
said. “We’re hoping, through the stimulus and what resources
are available, we can get this project back on track.”
The right-of-way acquisition is under way in Blowing Rock for
the third phase of the U.S. 321 widening, with the contract scheduled
to be granted in October 2010. Pettyjohn said the right-of-way
purchases had stalled due to lack of funding.
NCDOT engineer Trent Beaver presented plans for the King Street
widening, which will expand the existing road to four or six lanes,
with a right-of-way acquisition cost of $24 million. Construction
is estimated at $14.5 million. “Even though it is just 1.1
miles, it will be an expensive and significant project,”
Beaver said.
The NCDOT has an extensive traffic-control plan in place, Beaver
said, to focus work on the south end of the project so that traffic
could be shifted while construction was complete. He said the
goal was to complete the east end of the project by the opening
of the new high school in the fall of 2010. “I’m going
to assume some of the work will be have to be done at night,”
he said, to accelerate completion and minimize the impact on traffic.
One section near New Market Centre will have two retaining walls
reaching a combined height of 30 feet, and all intersections will
be improved to better handle traffic flow. The project will be
tied in with Old East King Street improvements near the new high
school.
Beaver said the U.S. 321 widening through the Green Park historic
district would be a narrower four-laned highway with no median,
while the route near the town of Blowing Rock will include sidewalks,
medians and other amenities.
Alena Cook, project engineer with the NCDOT Transportation Planning
Branch, gave results of an early study on the Boone bypass, known
informally as the Daniel Boone Parkway. To date, a 2002 environmental
study helped determine potential route alternatives, and a public
workshop in 2004 provided information to help narrow the different
choices.
Cook said a four-lane facility with a median is currently proposed,
with limited access. Intersection points would be on U.S. 421
east of Boone, U.S. 321 near the southern town limits of Boone,
and N.C. 105 west of Boone. Four routes are still under consideration.
“Even though it is listed in the TIP, it’s an unfunded
project,” Cook said, saying the route idea had emerged from
long-term transportation plans that projected 20 to 30 years in
the future. “The concept has been out there for a long time.”
Cook said the NCDOT had the goal of developing efficient routes
that would create minimal impact on existing homes and properties.
Phil Trew, transportation planner for High Country Council of
Governments, said local governments should select a preferred
alternative for the Boone bypass, with the route included in the
CTP. “The NCDOT does need some official notification from
you all in order to proceed,” Trew said.
Cook said some options not included on the plan could still be
recommended by local governments. She said the NCDOT would approve
a map, but not necessarily a specific type of corridor, though
studies showed a four-lane facility was needed because of the
projected traffic volume.
Cooper Sellers, with the NCDOT’s transportation planning
branch, presented a comprehensive transportation plan for the
county that he said made recommendations and identified deficiencies
in the current road network. It relies on traffic counts and capacity
formulas without consideration of funding.
“It is more important than ever that projects be tied to
comprehensive transportation plans in order to get funding,”
Sellers said, adding that the plans are regularly updated in consultation
with county and regional planners.
Sellers said the NCDOT wanted feedback from counties on how to
conduct public hearings and also have preferred alternatives selected
by local governments. The long-term plans are developed based
on local support as well as traffic data.
NCDOT engineer Drew Joyner explained the project-development process
and environmental analysis in determining routes. He said the
feasibility studies helped determine project scope, preferred
alternatives, environmental factors and “all the details
we can gather.”
He said the design phases of projects overlapped both project
development and right-of-way acquisition. “We pay fair-market
value,” Joyner said, with relocation assistance available
for residences and businesses as well.
Joyner said projects required a lot of communication between different
planning branches and local communities must understand the various
studies.
The group also discussed scheduling, agreeing to meet three or
four times a year to discuss regional transportation.
Get Firefox