Area officials like NCDOT plans

T. J. ROYAL

North Carolina Department of Transportation and local officials met Thursday to study drafts of bicycle and railroad route maps of Edgecombe County, and to discuss ideas about how transportation can be improved in the area.

The meeting Thursday was part of an ongoing process to develop a comprehensive transportation plan for the county. The transportation plan, along with other documents like a 10-year land use plan, can show where growth will potentially occur in the county.

The local officials, including Town of Tarboro Planner Troy Lewis, Princeville Town Manager Sam Knight, Speed Mayor Wilbert Harrison and Planning Board member Barbara Hendricks, did not express any misgivings about the accuracy of the bicycle or railroad maps. Instead, a few of them pointed out where they would like to see improvements made to existing roads that are near or over their capacity.

Lewis said that a portion of West Wilson Street in Tarboro, from the Western Boulevard intersection down to the bridge crossing U.S. 64, was supposed to be expanded to three lanes about four years ago. That portion, along with West Wilson Street/N.C. 111 down to Davistown-Mercer Road, is significantly over its capacity, but the project was delayed after state funding was allocated elsewhere.

Ronnie Keeter, NCDOT district engineer, said that now, about 80 percent of the right-of-way for that portion is cleared for expansion, but did not say when the project might begin construction.

Knight said one roadway improvement he wants to see completed is the transformation of a two-lane section of N.C. 33, south of Princeville, into a three-lane roadway. A center turn lane on that stretch would accommodate people turning into Freedom Hill Health Center, and would help traffic flow in the morning in particular, Knight said.

Gwen Parker, Whitakers administrator, said she would like to see improvements made to all of N.C. 33, all the way from Whitakers to near the Pitt County line.

NCDOT's Scott Walston said that out of the rural, two-lane roads that are near or over their current capacity, a "good, standard" two-lane road would fix most of their capacity problems. Walston said such roads would have two 12-feet-wide lanes with two feet of shoulder space on each side.

Lewis, Knight and county Planning Director Ola Pittman agreed with Walston that such roads would fix such congestion.

At the Comprehensive Transportation Plan meeting on June 26, the residents who attended were agreeable about the accuracy of NCDOT's Edgecombe County maps. Since then, Walston and NCDOT official Julie Bollinger have been approaching Edgecombe municipalities for approval of their maps.

Walston said that so far, Speed and Leggett have approved the maps. Bollinger will present the maps for Princeville's approval at the town's monthly meeting on Monday.

Knight said he thought the NCDOT is doing a very good job so far with the county's Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

"I like that they're open mostly for suggestions" about how to improve transportation in the county, Knight said.

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