January 29, 2009 Issue
DOT Cuts Likely To Delay 421, 321 Road Projects
Right of Way Purchases Currently On Hold
Decreasing state transportation revenues are likely to result in the delay of several transportation projects in Watauga County, including the U.S. 421/King Street widening in Boone and the U.S. 321 widening to Blowing Rock, said Mike Pettyjohn, division engineer for N.C. Department of Transportation Highway Division 11.
Pettyjohn provided an update on current projects to an intergovernmental meeting of elected officials and staff from Boone, Watauga County, Blowing Rock, Seven Devils and ASU on Monday at the Broyhill Inn in Boone.
Pettyjohn said the DOT has experienced decreased revenues and increased material costs since 2007, and that revenue decreases are projected to continue over the next three years. This year alone, DOT estimates a $300 million shortfall.
“There’s a lot of things that are going to be delayed,” he said.
The proposed federal economic stimulus package is expected to include about $30 billion for transportation projects nationally—North Carolina’s share will probably be enough to help the DOT “break even,” Pettyjohn said. In fall 2008, the department submitted a list of about $5 to $6 billion in “shovel-ready” projects to the federal government for economic stimulus consideration. In the meantime, the DOT is reevaluating its 18-month project letting list.
The U.S. 421/King Street widening project, or TIP U-4020, was scheduled for an April 2009 letting date, but that date is likely to be pushed back, Pettyjohn said. The project will widen a 1.1-mile section of U.S. 421 from Hardin Street to N.C. 194 in Boone to a modified four- and six-lane section. Pettyjohn said this project was listed as a “top priority” on the DOT’s economic stimulus package wish-list.
So far, about 25 percent of the right-of-way (ROW) purchases have taken place for this project, but ROW purchases are currently suspended and Pettyjohn did not know when they will resume. Trent Beaver, a division construction engineer for Division 11, said the ROW acquisition cost is estimated at $24 million and the construction cost is estimated at $14.5 million.
“This is the first project I’ve been involved with where the right-of-way cost is approaching twice the construction cost,” Beaver said.
Beaver said the DOT intends to complete as much work as possible between the N.C. 105 Extension and N.C. 194 before the August 2010 opening of the new Watauga High School, located off East King Street.
A visualization of the project is available by clicking to www.regiond.org/rpo/King%20Street/Sequence%2001%20wme.wmv.
The U.S. 321 widening project, or TIP R-2237C, is in the process of right-of-way acquisition, although little to no purchases have been made, said Pettyjohn. The project involves the widening of U.S. 321 from Blackberry Road in Caldwell County to just north of Blowing Rock. The original letting date was scheduled for October 2010, but that date is not certain, Pettyjohn said.
TIP R-2710 calls for safety improvements and resurfacing on N.C. 194 from the Avery County line to Valle Crucis. Pettyjohn said that DOT has split off a smaller project involving guardrail work that will let in February and begin construction in May. The rest of the project is scheduled for a March 2010 letting date, but that could change, he said.
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