Free Republic

$3.4 billion. That’s how much bad roads and congestion in North Carolina costs its drivers in higher vehicle ownership costs, according to a report commissioned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Fixing those roads—as well as repairing and replacing bridges, building new highways and any other large projects the N.C. DOT has on its schedule—takes money, and lots of it. Steve Abbott, a spokesperson for the N.C. DOT, said that to bring every bridge in the state to “good” condition would cost $3.8 billion, roughly 71 percent of the department’s $5.3 billion budget for the year. “As of now,...

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - President Joe Biden’s economic agenda includes a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that aims to repair roads, focus on clean energy and create millions of jobs for Americans among other issues. The proposal, called the American Jobs Plan, faces an uphill battle in Congress as some Republicans are opposed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday morning that he was unlikely to support anything “If it’s going to have massive tax increases and trillions more added to the national debt,” according to NBC News. Although there’s a lot to unpack in Biden’s plan, including money to...

North Carolina officials are trying to figure out how to unwind parts or all of a 2014 public-private partnership that is building managed toll lanes on a Charlotte-area highway.Ever since the ink dried on North Carolina’s first transportation P3 contract, the plan to relieve severe congestion in the Charlotte region has generated controversy.Public opposition remains just as fierce today to the project that will add express lanes on Interstate 77, even though more than one report says the deal with I-77 Mobility Partners LLC, a consortium led by Cintra Infraestructuras S.A., was properly authorized and permitted.The 26-mile-long project is designed...

Ever since the notion of widening Interstate 95 and making it a toll road was chased out of town by an angry mob, there was a bewildering silence out there. What to do about “America’s Main Street”? How to fix the nation’s first major interstate highway, parts of which bear a worrisome resemblance to what old-times saw on Day 1? In fact, some of those ancient parts are right in our backyard, including the too-low overpasses in Harnett County that trap an over-height truck from time to time. Harnett also owns a few of those short exit ramps that make...

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is investigating after a Donald Trump campaign flag was seen flying on a ferry.

A challenge to the state's I-77 toll lane was denied by the N.C. Court of Appeals today.The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel upheld a lower court, which had dismissed a citizen group's attempt to stop the public-private project in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties.This was a big political issue in the 2016 governor's race, costing Pat McCrory a lot of votes in those counties. As a legal issue, the opposition doesn't seem to have much gas.I-77 from Charlotte to Mooresville is a traffic nightmare. To address the congestion, the state's DOT in 2014 signed a contract with a Delaware LLC...

Kevin J. Lacy, a traffic engineer who works for NCDOT. When David N. Cox was exercising his right to petition the government, and submitted an 8 page document to support the North Raleigh Coalition of Homeowners' Associations case for more traffic lights to go with some new roadwork, Kevin Lacy whined to the NC Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors to investigate David Cox. Though Cox never claimed, nor has he been accused of claiming he is an engineer, Lacy thought the report "appears to be engineering-level work" by a non licensed person. So, in other words, the report...

(For education and discussion purposes, only) A research group funded by road builders called Wednesday for more state highway spending to avert a costly increase in accidents, travel delays and wear-and-tear on everyone's cars. [One local planning organization says highways account for only 52 percent of the transportation spending needed in the Durham and Chapel Hill area by 2025, with 44 percent earmarked for rail and bus transit.] North Carolina has failed to repair and expand its highway network quickly enough to keep pace with growing passenger and truck traffic and crumbling roads and bridges... (snip) Citing census and highway...

Winston-Salem, however, is one of the few places where city traffic engineers keep studying trouble spots after improvements are made, state transportation-safety officials said. The documentation is at the core of a long-running but little-known effort by city officials in Winston-Salem to make the streets safer. Over the past 17 years, the Winston-Salem Department of Transportation's Safety Improvement Program has tried to reduce wrecks at 469 intersections. Studies completed this year show that at 58 spots, the number of wrecks dropped by more than 25 percent - from 1,064 to 786, over a study period of about four years. The...

RALEIGH - Elections for state office in North Carolina in recent years have revolved around issues such as taxes, spending, education and a proposed state lottery. This year, I think transportation will play a much larger role than it has in a long time. Partly, this is a result of the fading of the public schools as a central focus of the political class - not because education isn't still a higher priority for both candidates and voters, but because there is at least a perception of progress. Based on polling and voting behavior, I don't think North Carolinians see...

An analysis of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol ? combining demographic analyses; records of traffic stops; citations; accidents and vehicle searches; highway observations; citizen surveys; and focus groups with citizens and troopers ? finds no conclusive evidence of current institutional or systemic racial profiling. The study, conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University, found some troop districts and individual troopers with higher citation rates of African-Americans than would normally be predicted. The study also found troop districts and individual officers with lower-than-predicted citation rates of African-Americans. This disparity, the researchers say, could be...

A state Board of Transportation member has resigned after e-mailing local leaders to ask for contributions to Gov. Mike Easley's 2004 campaign for re-election in exchange for helping to secure road projects for Iredell County. According to Richard Vinroot and the North Carolina Republican Party, Frank Johnson of Statesville said in the e-mail he set a goal of raising $50,000 to take to Raleigh. "You probably know that Mike Easley appointed me to this position and like a lot of politicians he is asking what I have done for him 'lately,'" Johnson allegedly wrote. Johnson then added, "We need a...