U.S. 70 upgrade plan moves forward
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 10, 2018 5:50 AM
Plans to upgrade a nearly 7-mile section of U.S. 70 West to freeway standards have passed the initial round of the state's evaluation process.
That process will determine which Department of Transportation projects will be funded and scheduled for construction over the next decade.
The approximately $125 million project stretches from the western end of the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass in Wayne County to just west of Pondfield Road in Johnston County.
The project, which is divided into two sections, would potentially include three new interchanges with overpasses and ramps, as well as new service roads.
Once the improvements are made, that section of road will be fully controlled access.
Last November, Wayne and Johnston county residents had the opportunity to make comments and ask questions about the project during a public meeting in Princeton.
The Wayne County end of the project, 3.45 miles, is expected to cost $62.9 million.
It scored 75.24 points out of a possible 100.
It stretches from just east of Earl Drive (secondary road 1408) at the western end of the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass to just west of Luby Smith Road (secondary road 1229).
Right-of-way acquisition and construction could start in fiscal year 2023.
The second part of the project, which is mostly in Johnston County, would cost $62 million. It stretches from just west of Luby Smith Road to just east of Pondfield Road (secondary road 2314).
It received 77.64 points out of a possible 100.
Right-of-way acquisition could start in 2025 and construction in 2027.
On Wednesday the DOT released data scores for more than 2,100 transportation improvement projects, including U.S. 70, in the first round of evaluation.
The evaluation process identified 77 high-scoring statewide mobility projects, including U.S. 70, that will be programmed for construction in the upcoming 2020-29 State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP).
They include 48 highway projects programmed for $3 billion in funding, 11 rail projects for $270 million and 18 aviation projects for $9 million.
North Carolinians will be invited to comment on projects and the newly released data scores -- online, in writing or in person at public meetings to be scheduled between April 30 and June 8.
The state's Strategic Transportation Investments law established a formula for ranking transportation projects in three categories.
Statewide mobility projects receive 40 percent of the state's available project funds.
The remaining 60 percent of funding is divided equally between the other two categories -- regional impact and division needs (local).
Using a data-driven process, the DOT scored and ranked highway, aviation, bicycle-pedestrian, transit, rail and ferry projects in all three categories, based on approved criteria including safety, congestion and cost-benefit analysis.
The final scores for statewide projects, released Wednesday, are based on this data.
Only highway, aviation and freight rail projects are eligible for funding in the statewide category.
Releasing all project scores together will help DOT divisions and local transportation planning organizations decide later this year how to rank projects in the regional and division categories, DOT officials said.
Projects that did not score high enough, or were not eligible to be funded in the statewide category, can be considered and potentially funded in either the regional or the division category.
Regional and division projects will receive final scores and will be funded based on a combination of data scores and local input.
The DOT will combine the local input points assigned by the planning organizations and division engineers with the data scores to generate the total score for each project.
Total scores for projects in the regional category are scheduled to be released in August 2018.
A similar process will take place later in fall 2018, for division category projects.
Once all scores are finalized, the top-scoring projects will be programmed for construction based on available funding.
Other factors may determine whether a project ultimately moves to construction, including the completion of environmental and engineering plans, corridor spending limits prescribed by law, and other federal and state funding restrictions.
This information will be used to create the next STIP for the years 2020-29.
The DOT will release a draft STIP for public comment in January 2019. The final 2020-29 STIP is expected to be adopted by the N.C. Board of Transportation in June 2019.
For more information on how the Strategic Transportation Investments law works, visit www.ncdot.gov.
For real-time travel information, visit DriveNC.gov or follow NCDOT on Twitter.