Tuesday Transportation Secretary Tony Tata spoke at the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Chamber lunch meeting and said purchase of the right-of-way to begin transforming Capital Boulevard into a limited-access freeway would begin in 2021.
“I would consider it one of the top projects that needs to be done,” Tata said. Earlier he had half-jokingly said Division 5 Engineer Wally Bowman had arranged to make every stoplight on Capital turn red as he drove from Raleigh to Wake Forest to highlight the need for improvements on the highway.
The Department of Transportation is planning to rebuild Capital in three stages: first from I-540 north to the Durant Road-Perry Creek Road intersection, second up to Burlington Mills Road and finally to the South Main Street-Falls of the Neuse intersection. There will be frontage and backage roads for local travel and grade separations at major intersections with Capital Boulevard, which is also U.S. 1, probably traveling over the roads crossing it.
Tata also said he was “hesitant to say too much” about the timeline for the land purchase, planning and construction because “some things will move around.”
He explained the new data-driven system for assessing and prioritizing transportation needs which will “build the roads where they are actually needed.” It is a new system under a new state law.
Before, each highway division in the state – Wake County is in Division 5 headquartered in Durham – received about equal amounts of the capital construction budget, which is currently $1.5 billion annually.
Now DOT is concentrating on providing construction where it is needed to help people get to work, help move freight on interstates. The department looked at 1,300 existing highway projects and 500 new ones as well as 1,300 non-highway projects and ranked them all.
To underscore the scope of work DOT faces, Tata said that it maintains 6,000 lane miles in just Wake County. North Carolina maintains the second-largest system of roads and highways after the enormous state of Texas.
After looking at the statewide picture, the new system then looks at regionally important construction projects. At the regional level, Division 5 is paired with Division 6 which runs through the Sandhills to the South Carolina line. Projects in the region are ranked by 70 percent data and 30 percent local input. There is also a local division level where money for projects are ranked equally by the data and local input. “Divisions are seeing much needed projects popping up on that list. We think the formula is doing what it needs to do,” Tata said.
Local projects include the Rolesville bypass, which Tata said should open in September or October, and the Fortify Project on I-40, necessary because the concrete is dissolving and losing strength.
Tata said DOT faces a deficit in the motor fuels tax at the state level because gasoline engines are becoming more efficient and electric cars do not need fuel. There are thousands of bridges across the state that are below standard; “There are needs all around the state.”
At the federal level, Tata said, “The Highway Trust Fund is going bust in October” and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has said he will stop writing checks in August. The federal money is 28 percent of N.C. DOT’s budget, about $1 billion a year, and a stop to construction would impact 20,000 jobs in North Carolina.
Tata said he spent two days in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, going to the offices of each North Carolina senator and representative with a map of their respective districts. He could say: “Here’s all the projects in your district that will stop in August and the number of jobs and people who will be out of work.” There are three bills now in Congress. Tata is hoping for a continuing resolution soon to keep the money flowing at the current level until after the November elections with approved legislation afterwards.
The federal tax on motor fuels is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline, 22.4 cents for diesel. Tata said that the money goes directly to Washington; what comes back to North Carolina is 92 cents of every dollar sent.
North Carolina taxes motor fuels at 17.5 cents per gallon plus a fluctuating rate of up to 20 cents per gallon based on the wholesale price for fuel over six months.
Answering questions, Tata said the only toll road now planned is a 26-mile portion of I-77 in Charlotte which will add two lanes where the toll will fluctuate, going up as the traffic increases. It is being built as a public-private partnership, which moved the construction forward by about 10 years. He said there has been no decision about tolls on I-95 and said, “There is a lot of debate on whether to toll all ferries or pull all tolls. It’s an emotional issue.” He spoke of the people who use a ferry because it is the only way to reach their work.
There is a nascent plan to make Interstate 495, which would run from Chesapeake into Rocky Mount. “It would be huge for northeastern North Carolina,” Tata said.
And the winner is . . .
After Tata’s speech, chamber President Marla Akridge announced the winners for this year’s awards.
Tom O’Connor with BB&T, who has already left for Houston with a big promotion, was named the winner of the John E. Wooten Jr. Award given to the chamber board member of the year.
Anne Marie Mulhern with On the Run Accounts was named the ambassador of the year; Dan Lawson and Hilda Parler with the other two finalists.
Vitality Chiropractic & Wellness was named the rising star business; Body Bliss Salon & Spa and Christi Spencer of State Farm were the other finalists.
Vanessa Davis with Dirty Dogs Spa was named the business woman of the year; Lisa Eyrolles of Elite Tax and Financial Services and Lisa Esquivel-Clark with The Skin Spa of Wake Forest were the other finalists.
Orthopedic Physical Therapy Associates was named the small business of the year. The other finalists were the Over the Falls restaurant and Supremia Dentistry.
