Paving planned for city dirt streets
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on August 11, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Vehicles are driven down Humphrey Street. City crews are preparing to pave this area of dirt road on Humphrey Street between Fourth and Sixth streets.
Two blocks of Humphrey Street in the center of Goldsboro will be the first of 41 dirt streets planned for new paving in the city.
City crews are gearing up to survey the area along Humphrey Street, from Fourth to Sixth street, where designs will be created for paved streets, curbs, gutters and stormwater lines, said Marty Anderson, Goldsboro chief city engineer.
After the designs are complete and cost estimates generated, city staff will bid out the project, in the spring of 2017. Construction, which could take 90 to 120 days, should be complete by the end of summer or early fall, Anderson said.
The Humphrey Street project topped the list for city officials and was approved by the Goldsboro City Council during a recent meeting. The meeting included council review of 41 dirt streets, classified as high, medium or low priority areas.
"Humphrey's is a high maintenance area," Anderson said.
Atlantic Avenue, from North Audubon Avenue to Atlantic's dead end, was originally recommended for paving, but Councilman Bevan Foster said the need is greater in more population dense areas.
"I just know this street personally, so I'm just saying that I feel like there's something else that's more important right now," Foster said.
Mayor Chuck Allen said residents living on dirt streets would be happy if the areas were just paved, without any addition of curbs and gutters. Anderson said some areas may be able to sustain pavement-only projects, as long as water runoff is not a problem.
"If you have water standing in the road, (the pavement) is going to deteriorate real quick," Anderson said.
The cost to pave both sections of Humphrey Street is estimated near $370,000, but the project cost could end up being lower, Anderson said.
"I think that estimate is high," Anderson said. "It'll be close."
Council members directed city staff to complete the work within the city's allotted $270,000, which is in this year's city budget.
"We're going to try to do two blocks," Anderson said. "We've got $270,000 in our fiscal year budget to pave unpaved streets. Basically, we're going to try to go from Fourth to Sixth Street."
City staff have compiled a list of dirt streets and categorized the areas as high, medium or low priority. Across the city, there are 11 high priority areas that include sections of Chestnut, Waters and Slocumb streets, Oak Hill and Dakota Drive, and Atlantic Avenue. Humphrey Street, from Sixth to Seventh Street, is on the list.
Medium priority dirt streets include sections of Branch, Carolina, Crepe Myrtle and Olive Street, and Dakota Avenue.
Low priority areas are located on Atlantic, Pineview and Lexington Avenue, Barrow Court, and street sections on Cemetery, Potley, Humphrey, Dewey, Basil, Crump, Fifth, Godwin, Kadis, Marshall, Mimosa, Raynor, Tarboro and Wood.
City staff have also compiled a list of 40 dirt streets that will not be paved and could be removed from the city's maintenance program, Anderson said. Many of the streets are in isolated or unused areas or within flood buyout areas,, Anderson said.
Stuart Street is one location where homes were removed and new construction is not allowed, as part of the flood buyout program following Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Anderson said.
Removing the streets from the city maintenance list would cause the areas to become the responsibility of adjacent property owners, Anderson said.
Dirt street construction projects are planned in future years, as the city budget provides $270,000 each year, an amount that will be collected from Goldsboro's $10 vehicle licensing fee. Efforts in seeking a $10 million bond referendum in November could also provide a source of revenue to partially fund dirt street pavement projects in the future, Anderson said.