DOT projects spring forth
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

Repaving projects and bridge repairs may delay motorists in the next few months, as planning for two major projects continues.

Resurfacing is heating up with the warmer weather, as contractors tackle six local jobs.

The surfacing and improvements to Bamboo Road are about to begin, including the paving of a gravel section near the Blue Ridge Parkway. The list of other resurfacing projects is not yet available.

Frank Gioscio, resident engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said two local bridge replacements are unde way. Payne Branch Road is currently closed to through traffic because of a replacement of a bridge over the Middle Fork of the New River.

The project, awarded to Mountain Creek Contractors, will cost more than $839,000 and work is expected to be complete by Nov. 1.

A bridge over Baird’s Creek near the Willow Valley Golf Course will be replaced with a culvert.

Gioscio said work will begin this week and result in a road closure, though it should be complete at the end of June.

An ongoing project hasn’t been as timely, as construction of a 6.6-mile section of U.S. 321 is running between 20 and 25 percent behind schedule.

The second phase of the widening that will link Blowing Rock and Lenoir was originally scheduled to be complete by Aug. 15, but Gioscio said, “There’s no way we’ll be able to meet that.”

The project was begun in February 2005 with an estimated price tag of $63.4 million, but is running 7 percent over cost, according to the most recent contracting report filed with the state transportation department. The estimated completion date is now about a year from now, listed as May 15, 2009.

Right-of-way acquisitions are under way for the King Street widening in Boone and contractors are marking underground tanks and other features that will affect engineering.

The 1.2-mile project will improve East King Street’s intersections with Grove Street, Hardin Street, N.C. 105 Ext., New Market Boulevard/Forest Hills Drive and N.C. 194. From the N.C. 105 Ext. intersection to N.C. 194, the road will be widened into a six-lane, divided curb and gutter roadway, and a raised concrete median of varying width will be constructed to separate opposite direction travel lanes. Sidewalks on both sides will also be built.

About 63 residences and 25 businesses will be relocated for the project. Right-of-way acquisition will cost $21,228,000; utilities will cost $717,154; and construction will cost $11,200,000, for a grand total of $33,145,154.

The third phase of the U.S. 321 widening in Blowing Rock will also begin soon, with right-of-way acquisitions and engineering taking place over the next two years, with construction scheduled to begin in 2010.

The route will run from Blackberry Road to Possum Hollow Road near the Tanger Outlet Shoppes on the Parkway.

The final 4.3-mile section of the widening project through the town will cost about $46 million.