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Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NCDOT proposed 10-year project plan shows delays, including to Capital Boulevard freeway
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Hundreds of North Carolina Department of Transportation projects across the state may be facing delays, includes a plan to turn a portion of Capital Boulevard into a freeway. NCDOT released its proposed 10-year plan, which is updated about every two years. Known as the State Transportation Improvement Plan, it outlines ongoing and planned project statewide. In the plan, phase one of the Capital Boulevard project is delayed possibly for five years. 'It is an outstanding project' said Joe Milazzo, the executive Director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, which says it's the voice of the regional business community on transportation. 'We've wanted to see that move forward for a long time. It is going remove every one of the traffic lights between 540 and the Franklin County line and so that will save people enormous amounts of time, headache and stress,. The project is broken into four phases. The current STIP plan has construction for the first phase, which runs from Interstate 540 to Durant Road start in 2026. The newly-proposed STIP plan doesn't have construction start until 2031. Construction for the second phase would also start in 2031, according to the newly drafted STIP. The other two phases, which run all the way to Purnell Road in Wake Forest, would start in 2033. The newly-estimated cost of the project is now more than $1.3 billion, an approximately 60% increase from the current estimate of more than $827 million. 'The primary reason would be because of inflationary pressures and the requirement we have to balance the STIP,' NCDOT Deputy Chief Engineer Drew Cox said. 'Even though we experience those, we still have to keep the STIP fiscally constrained. We're required to do that by state and federal law. That would be the primary reason, but the right of way and utilities along that corridor are a challenge. 'The drastic increase goes back to the pressures we've had with inflation and increased costs for doing business,' Cox said. 'The other thing we have tried to accommodate in our planning, which has been a real challenge over the last few years, is we've gone back and re-evaluated how we're doing estimates to try and accommodate some of the changes we're seeing over the last three or four years.' According to Cox, about 200 projects in various stages may be facing delays and there could be factors other than costs contributing. 'There are other reasons though that can be unrelated to budgetary constraints,' he said. 'Challenges with right of way, challenges with utilities, projects in urban areas. Capital Boulevard is one of those. The time required to purchase right of way, the time required to adjust utilities can also serve to create challenges that cause you to move your construction schedule dates.' According to the proposed plan, the widening of I-85 between Hillsborough and Durham is delayed beyond 2035. The plan is a draft for now until potentially approved later this year. Public feedback may be provided until April 4 through the NCDOT website. The U.S. Department of Transportation said construction costs have increased significantly since 2020. CBS 17's Mary Smith is an Investigative Reporter focused on Digging Deeper and Getting Answers. If you have a story that needs investigating, send an email to Investigates@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NCDOT draft 10-year plan cuts funding for several major road projects in Buncombe, MPO says
ASHEVILLE - Funding for several major Buncombe County road projects has been cut in the N.C. Department of Transportation's draft 10-year plan, with final approval coming later this year, according to a presentation from the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization. NCDOT's draft State Transportation Improvement Plan, or STIP, was released in January. It shows how and when projects are expected to be funded across the state over the next decade. MPO Director Tristan Winkler said the draft proposes to defund more than $782 million in projects for Buncombe, Haywood and Henderson counties, which includes the long-awaited widening for Sweeten Creek Road in South Asheville, improvements to a stretch of Sand Hill and Sardis roads and widening of Swannanoa River Road, from Biltmore to South Tunnel. 'It's a lot of projects that have been planned for a long time that our communities and community members have helped to prioritize in the past. And so losing that funded status, it's a disappointment," he told the Citizen Times Feb. 27. Winkler considers a project in the draft STIP defunded, or decommitted, if it loses funding entirely, or if it changes to "preliminary engineering only," meaning no money is allocated for construction or later phases, and it must compete again in NCDOT's strategic prioritization process to remain funded in a future STIP. The plan is updated about every two years. Several projects in the region were also delayed, according to the MPO presentation, and no new projects were funded. The draft plan proposes a "significant" number of decommitted projects, Winkler said. Given the financial situation at NCDOT, and rising costs, the MPO expected to see delays in existing projects — but the extent of the cuts was "surprising." NCDOT spokesperson David Uchiyama said the department has experienced a substantial number of cost estimate increases in recent years due to inflation, improvements to cost estimating processes and project scope changes. The department estimated the cost of projects in the STIP has increased by $11 billion since the adoption of the current (2024-2033) STIP. "To ensure the STIP remains fiscally constrained as required by state and federal law, the schedules of many projects were shifted, with some becoming funded for preliminary engineering only," he said. It is not related to Tropical Storm Helene recovery. Also losing funding are sections of the Future I-26 widening project, with its updated cost estimate increasing from $323 million to $670 million. Due to funding availability, the New Stock interchange area is the only segment to remain committed, Uchiyama said. The remaining segments were delayed to preliminary engineering only and will need to be reprioritized. Project defunding, specifically on Sweeten Creek Road, was a source of frustration at a Feb. 25 Asheville City Council meeting where a new 304-unit complex was approved for the highly traveled road. Neighbors have long voiced concern around the strain of new development on the corridor. Resident Shawn Spruce asked how the area will "deal with all this congestion?" The Sweeten Creek Road improvements were planned for a 5.4-mile stretch, intended to widen it from two lanes to a four-lane divided roadway from Hendersonville to Rock Hill roads The $215 million project was proposed to help reduce existing and future traffic congestion and improve traffic flow within the project limits, according to its project page, as well as support current and future residential and business development. The project was segmented last year due to cost increases, funding constraints and "a desire to keep a portion on schedule for construction," Uchiyama said. But, ultimately, this year, the department had to "delay" both segments. Both sections of the project would be required to re-compete in the prioritization process to secure right-of-way and construction funding again. 'Over the last 20 years, that is one of the fastest growing parts of the region," Winkler said. "There's been a lot of development and there's not a lot of redundancy in that part of the region. If that corridor closes down, you don't have a ton of alternatives. That's a project that we're going to work hard to look at funding opportunities in the future.' For projects like Sweeten Creek Road that must go back through the prioritization process, there is no special consideration compared to other projects that are new submittals, Winkler said. A public comment period for the 2026-2035 draft STIP is open through April 4. People can review the document and submit feedback online by visiting The N.C. Board of Transportation will likely vote to adopt the draft in July. The MPO will vote in August and the Federal Highway Administration will approve the plan in the fall. More: Sneak peek at I-40 reopening through Pigeon River Gorge after Helene: expect delays More: Asheville apartment/townhome complex on Sweeten Creek OK'd; no affordable units proposed Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@ or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: What Asheville projects are cut, delayed in NCDOT draft 10-year plan?
