Gov. McCrory plans to improve N.C. transit

Following the N.C. Department of Transportation and Gov. Pat McCrory’s Sept. 17 announcement about a 25-year plan to improve state transportation, leaders are looking to review the projects that could be funded by the plan .

One part of the plan is to borrow $1.5 billion — paid for with bonds — for transportation projects in rural areas, focusing on transit and highway infrastructure. In a press release, McCrory said he hopes to use the money to economically stimulate these areas.

More than 20 candidate projects are already on the list to receive bond money, said NCDOT Secretary Tony Tata in a statement Friday.

“Accordingly, we are looking at projects that will help connect rural areas to jobs, health care and education centers,” he said. “A transportation bond will help us address critical needs without limited funds.”

One proposed project is an interstate designation for U.S. 64 and U.S. 17 that would connect the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia to Raleigh, said Jerry Jennings, division engineer for NCDOT Highway Division 1, which oversees 14 state counties.

“Any interstate designation is a positive benefit for any comp any that is maybe looking to locate to a region,” he said.

This is the first time that a plan for connecting smaller towns between Raleigh and Hampton Roads, such as Williamston, Windsor and Elizabeth City, has ever made it to this point, Jennings said.

“I certainly think it would have a positive impact on the local economy,” he said.

But David Hartgen, transportation professor emeritus at UNC-Charlotte, said smaller projects might not be as economically helpful.

“I like the vision, and I thought that it didn’t go quite far enough in articulating how to get there. I have much greater concern about this announcement in providing bonding for the rural projects,” Hartgen said.

There is no estimate of demand and no report that investing in this project will help rural areas, Hartgen said. He thinks there should be a system that ranks the importance of potential projects.

Hartgen said the vision for the project is strong in its effort to recognize regional differences in need and intra- and interstate connectivity.

Jennings said he thinks transportation improvements will bolster the business sector of more rural areas in northeastern North Carolina.

But Hartgen said it could be a political move for McCrory to get support of rural regions.

“It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that it’s related to politics,” he said.

Tata said projects that have passed the planning phase could be contracted in 12 to 24 months.

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