NC 218 improvements financing may benefit from some quick thinking

NC 218 has become a 'Monroe Bypass' by default, and as a result the rural Union County highway is starting to show some wear in addition to safety deficiencies. So there's a plan to improve it.

Resurface 30 miles of highway, widen the roadway to 24 feet (from 20-22 feet), build turning lanes at various major intersections (US 601, NC 200 and 205.)

Cost: $15.5 million.

Not a big deal, right? Well, the Charlotte Division of NCDOT (Division 10) is about $14 million short in funds to start the project this year.

So the division's engineer, Barry Moose, came up with the suggestion that some of the funds come from a project to add additional lanes to US 601. Well this proposal didn't sit to well with Monroe City Council. In fact, they passed a resolution against the idea.

Their concern is that the wider US 601 will be needed when the real US 74 Monroe Bypass is built. (which, quite honestly, no one has a clue on when that actually will see the light of day - unfortunately.)

Now normally, this is where my commentary on the situation would begin...but we're not done. By a struck of good fortune and also good management, a Charlotte highway project is going to come close to $10 million under budget. (Cheers to Mr. Moose and Division 10. With construction costs as they are...and the state of highway financing within NC...finishing a project $10 million under budget is a great accomplishment.) The $10 million covers nearly 2/3rds of the cost for the NC 218 improvements.

Mr. Moose would get the remainder of the funds from pushing back a rural project in Anson County that has been lowered in the region's priority list.

The Charlotte Region's Planning Organization (Mecklenburg-Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) is scheduled to review Moose's suggestion later this month. This plan has the support of the Monroe City Council...as long as they still keep widening US 601 on track.

Story: Charlotte Observer

Comments

Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge - Maine

Spanning over the Ossipee River on the border between Porter in Oxford County, Maine and Parsonsfield in York County, Maine is the 152 foot long Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge. The Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge is built in a Paddleford truss design, which is commonly found among covered bridges in the New England states. The covered bridge is the third bridge located at this site, with the first two bridges built in 1800 and 1808. However, there seems to be some dispute for when the covered bridge was built. There is a plaque on the bridge that states that the bridge may have been built in 1876, but in my research, I have found that this bridge may have been built in 1859 instead. That may check out since a number of covered bridges in northern New England were built or replaced around 1859 after a really icy winter. The year that the Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge was built was not the only controversy surrounding its construction. There was a dispute over building and maintain

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1

US Route 299 and modern California State Route 299

US Route 299 connected US Route 101 near Arcata of Humboldt County east across the northern mountain ranges of California to US Route 395 in Alturas of Modoc County. US Route 299 was the longest child route of US Route 99 and is the only major east/west highway across the northern counties of California. US Route 299 was conceptualized as the earliest iteration of what is known as the Winnemucca-to-the-Sea Highway. The legacy of US Route 299 lives on today in the form of the 307 mile long California State Route 299. Featured as the cover of this blog is the interchange of US Route 101 and US Route 299 north of Arcata which was completed as a segment of the Burns Freeway during 1956. Part 1; the history of US Route 299 and California State Route 299 The development of the State Highways which comprised US Route 299 ("US 299") and later California State Route 299 ("CA 299") began with 1903 Legislative Chapter 366 which defined the general corridor of the Trinit

Gribblenation

Search This Blog