It seems like the NC Treasurer's Office has been against Perdue's I-485 plan since October

Though NCDOT asserts that the NC Treasurers Office was in support of Governor Perdue's design-build-finance plan to complete Interstate 485, recently released e-mails from the treasurer's office suggest otherwise.

In an article in the Charlotte Business Journal, a number of e-mails within the treasurer's office show a strong sense of skepticism to the non-traditional construction plan.

The strongest critic seems to be Deputy Treasurer Vance Holloman who considers the design-build-finance plan as 'wild'.

Holloman goes as far to say, "[NCDOT's plan] of paying interest and principal over 10 years is not permitted by GS (General Statute)."

The Governor's office has already stated that they have consulted with the State Attorney General's office and that the plan is legal.

It appears that the root of this squabble is how to finance the road. The treasurer's office prefers to use up to $400 million in GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles) funds to fund the project. GARVEE funds do not go against the state's bond capacity. Something that the debt owed to the contractor in the design-build-finance plan would do.

However, the drawback with using GARVEE funds, NCDOT would have to reprioritize other projects. With Governor Perdue's campaign promise to Charlotte to start construction on the missing link of Interstate 485 in the balance, in addition to having limited transportation funds and a number of cities clamoring for completion of unbuilt freeway loops, it appears the NCDOT didn't want to anger Charlotte let alone the other cities again.

So now we wait for Attorney General Roy Cooper's office to come out and say whether or not this finance plan for I-485 is or is not prohibited by North Carolina's General Statutes.

Well it looks like Bev Perdue was right about one thing....she was going to get all parts of government and Raleigh and Charlotte working together...somehow I'd say this isn't exactly what she had in mind.

Story Links:
Legal concerns raised over I-485 financing plan ---WRAL
Documents: Treasurer was skeptical of I-485 Plan ---Charlotte Observer
Cat fight in Raleigh over I-485 -The CLog

Comments

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park. As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park. Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870. The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona. In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers. The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines. The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917. Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog