NCDOT is advising motorists traveling on U.S. 17 in Jones County of a Road Closure/Detour beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday July 13, which is expected to last through 11 p.m. on July 15. This detour is part of the U.S. 17 Bypass project, and the impact on through traffic is expected to be high. Motorists travelling North on U.S. 17 will be routed onto the detour in Maysville using White Oak River Road, to Pole Pocossin Road, to Lee’s Chapel Road, and back onto U.S. 17 in Pollocksville. Motorists travelling South on U.S. 17, will be routed onto the detour at Lee’s Chapel RoadRead More →

Alleviating current and future congestion is one of the benefits being touted for the proposed N.C. 43 Connector that would run from U.S. 17 Business (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) to south of U.S. 70/U.S. 17 in New Bern. The city of New Bern submitted the N.C. 43 Connector Project to NCDOT to be considered for funding. Through the Strategic Mobility Formula that prioritizes projects based on safety, congestion, benefit-cost and local priorities, it scored well enough to be funded at the division level due to strong support from the city. The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to endorse Alternative 2 of theRead More →

Charlotte and Mecklenburg County transportation projects were awarded six of the seven highest scores for statewide projects as N.C. Department of Transportation updates its State Transportation Improvement Plan. Craven County’s highest-scoring new transportation project is a railroad crossing improvement at U.S. 70, with construction penciled in to begin in 2028. It scored higher than a Havelock Bypass, construction of which is scheduled to begin in 2020. In scoring transportation projects, 40 percent of the funding goes to statewide projects, and 30 percent each for regional and division priorities. The state’s seven highest-ranking highway projects are, in order: Build 4th runway at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Mecklenburg County, $500,000 – Score: 99.64Read More →

Two environmental groups have agreed to drop their opposition to construction of a U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock in exchange for several steps by the N.C. Department of Transportation to protect rare longleaf pine habitat along the highway’s path, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported today. In an agreement announced Monday and reported in the News & Observer, NCDOT will give a conservation easement to protect land it will own along the 10.3-mile bypass, as well as provide $5.3 million to the N.C. Coastal Land Trust to create a fund to protect land in and around the Croatan National Forest. NCDOT also will establish a $2 millionRead More →