Recycled fence sale proceeds pay for controlled access project
By Matt Caulder
Published in News on February 6, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Goldsboro Public Works employees pull up fence posts along Corporate Drive next to U.S. 70. The fencing was replaced with cement controlled access monuments.
The Goldsboro Public Works Department made enough from recycled metal fencing from the first phase of a U.S. 70 beautification project to fund the remainder of the project, city officials said.
The plan to replace the rusty fencing along U.S. 70 with concrete controlled access monuments began with the completion of the pilot phase along Corporate Drive in October.
The recycled fencing from the first section was sold for almost $6,200, covering the expense of the first phase and the remaining sections, minus fuel cost.
The first section took three weeks and cost the city $1,741.04 which comes out to about $1,025 per mile in materials.
Public Works Director Jose Martinez estimated the remaining sections would cost $5,500.
Martinez said he expects the remaining sections to take 10 weeks.
The monuments will be placed 80 feet apart in the holes left behind from the fence poles.
The next section to be replaced will be between Spence Avenue and Berkeley Boulevard and will move east to the easternmost point of the fence by Ash Street.
"Our Public Works guys will be working on this in their spare time," Martinez said. "It's a beautification project, so our other duties take precedent first. We are already paying these guys for their time anyways, so that is a sunk cost in this."
The money from the recycled materials pulled up from the remaining sections will be rolled back into the Public Works budget, Martinez said.
Public Works employees began by stripping away the fencing and pulling up the cement-bedded poles, then placed new controlled access monuments in their place, which only protrude about a foot and a half out of the ground.
The monuments are made of concrete and have a "C/A" stamped on the top to mark the area as a controlled access area.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation requires a controlled access marker be in place and gave approval to the monuments constructed in house by Public Works.
The monuments cost about $50 each to buy, but only $13.50 to produce in house, Martinez said.
Once Martinez began work, he realized the post holes were bedded in enough concrete to avoid spending time digging out the holes.
"We thought we were going to have to dig them out, but the fence holes are actually big enough we'll need to bring in dirt," Martinez said.
The first section runs between Corporate Drive and U.S. 70 by Carlie C's grocery store and is mirrored across the highway.
Martinez showed the City Council before and after pictures late last year and was given its blessing to continue with the sections.
To replace the fencing, there must be public roads on both sides of a grassy area. The city has no plans to replace fencing along residential development.
Martinez said leaving those sections of fence up might protect a child from running into the highway.