This is an update to last week’s article about road projects in Wake Forest.
Jonathan Jacobs, the town’s transportation engineer, explained the LAPP funding that is being used for the Ligon Mill Road project which began this week. The explanation is both for the Gazette readers and the editor.
“We apply for LAPP (Locally Administered Projects Program) through CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization). If funding is approved, it can be both state and federal, just state, or just federal funds. Sometimes, x% is federal and state, and x% is just state. Ligon Mill is both federal and state.”
The project required a 20 percent match from local funds, the 2015 bond referendum, and the total project is expected to cost about $6 million. It should be completed in late 2021.
You will find the construction details farther down in this article.
On April 21, The News & Observer reported: “The N.C. Department of Transportation will lay off about 300 temporary workers and consultants and delay the start of about 88 major construction projects because of a sharp drop in tax revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“NCDOT estimates it will receive $300 million less in tax revenue than expected in April, May and June, as businesses remain closed and people travel less for work and recreation.
“About 54% of NCDOT’s state revenue comes from gas taxes, which have dropped sharply since the coronavirus outbreak began last month. Traffic on major highways is down 40% to 50% percent across the state, Transportation Secretary Eric Boyette said in an interview.”
What does that mean for Wake Forest? Jonathan Jacobs, the town’s transportation engineer based in the operations center on Friendship Chapel Road, answered last Thursday.
“We just discussed projects internally! Rogers Road [the traffic bridge over the CSX rail line] is still so far out that NCDOT is confident that it will remain on the current schedule. Capital Blvd. [the four-part plan to change the highway into a limited-access freeway] is also far enough out that I don’t see it getting pushed, but we also don’t know how this is going to affect the economy so this is all subject to change. We might see design get put on hold again which is not currently the case. Only Construction is being affected.
“Anything else that has not been awarded has been put on hold indefinitely. This includes the proposed traffic signal on Heritage Lake Road, any future NCDOT resurfacing, Ligon Mill Road bridge replacement, and possibly some others.
“Ligon Mill Road will proceed since it was awarded already. We were given the green light to proceed by NCDOT during the last bit of cash crisis. The Town fronts all the money and we seek reimbursements over time. That project is still scheduled to begin on May 4, 2020.
“Durham Road is definitely unfortunate to say the least. We are disappointed we had to take the route that we did, but it’s the best for the Town with some of the uncertainties at Capital Boulevard as well as the lingering unknowns with COVID-19 and the economy.”
Jacobs closed by noting that he inspects all ongoing road and transportation projects every day.
#
