The North Carolina Department of Transportation will be making improvements on several major roads located in the vicinity of campus starting in February.
The budget for improvements for primary road construction in Wake County is $1,915,713.61, according to Division Construction Engineer Tracy Parrott. The remaining part of the $57.1 million set aside by the NCDOT will go to other North Carolina counties.
Parrott said the plans call for road resurfacing from Gorman Street to Powell Drive, Blue Ridge Road to Hillsborough Street to Edward Mill Road and District Drive. Trinity Road will be widened from Youth Center to Blue Ridge then resurfaced from Edward Mills to Blue Ridge.
“The contract becomes available to the contractor Feb. 5 of ’07 and has a scheduled completion date of June 5 of ’07,” Parrott said.
Parrott said the construction was planned at this time to avoid the heavy traffic that comes with N.C. State football and basketball and the North Carolina State Fair.
He explained that in order to prevent traffic congestion there are restrictions in the contract that prevents the contractor from closing lanes during peak hours of the day.
“These hours are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,” Parrott said. “There are no restrictions on Saturday or Sunday, but there will be appropriate traffic direction.”
Parrott said the roads were selected for resurfacing based on the results of periodic pavement surveys.
“This is largely just an annual resurfacing as part of routine preventive maintenance,” Parrott said. “It should be a fairly straightforward contract.”
Parrott explained that all money will be taken out of appropriated tax capital.
“All funds are taken from the highway fund, which is financed through gas taxes,” Parrott said.
****Jim McGowan, a sophomore in aerospace engineering, said although it may seem like a lot of money, he thinks the road improvements are a good idea.
“I really think this construction is appropriate,” McGowan said. “There are a lot of trucks that tear up the asphalt on Trinity Road, and it will be worth the money to get it fixed.
Seshie Hargett, a junior in psychology and sociology, said she would like to continue seeing improvements made to the roads in this area.
“I never thought there was a problem with the roads they selected — I can certainly think of much worse roads,” Hargett said. “But if those are well-traveled roads and I guess it is good to keep them in top shape.”
Jiten Patel, a freshman in political science, said the widening of Trinity Road will make traveling easier and more agreeable for all drivers.
“It gets way too congested on that road,” Patel said. “This will make it way more convenient for everyone.”
