COMING SUNDAY: U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass is dedicated in memory of John Kerr
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 3, 2017 2:41 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The late John Kerr hated stoplights.
And he was not shy about letting anyone -- including his fellow legislators -- know his feelings, Gov. Roy Cooper said pointing to a new sign dedicating a section of the stoplight free U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass in memory of the late state senator.
More than 100 people attended the Friday morning dedication and unveiling ceremony held in the historic Courtroom No. 1 in the Wayne County Courthouse.
The five-mile section of bypass stretches from the highway's interchange with Interstate 795 to U.S. 13.
The late Kerr, one of the most powerful members of the state General Assembly, championed improvements to state infrastructure including the bypass and the I-795 designation for a four-lane U.S. 117 between Goldsboro and Wilson.
"He was loud, you could hear his whisper at about 30 paces so you knew what he was talking about," Cooper said. "He was bluntly and sometimes brutally honest with you and everyone else. Even when he was bluntly and brutally honest, you still liked him because it was about an issue. It was about something that he cared about a great deal."
Kerr loved his family, Wayne County, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the Tarheels, small businesses and "jobs, jobs, jobs," Cooper said.
What he didn't love were stoplights, he said.
"John Kerr could tell you how many stoplights there were between Goldsboro and Raleigh," Cooper said. "And he kept a running tally. He would often stand up on the floor of the Senate and tell you how many stoplights there were."
Kerr was going to make it easier for people to get from one place to the next, Cooper said.
He knew that you needed to have transportation before you could have "jobs, jobs, jobs," he said.
See the full coverage of the dedication ceremony of the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass in Sunday's issue of the Goldsboro News-Argus.