Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1037744
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 10-16, 2018 UCW 9 Twenty-five miles of interstate highway in Cumberland, Harnett and Johnston counties are going to be widened from four to eight lanes. Con- struction on a local segment of I-95 will begin next year, according to the North Carolina Department of Trans- portation. e public is invited to at- tend an open house meeting to review the accelerated schedule and prelimi- nary map designs. e public meeting from 5-7 p.m. will be held ursday, Oct. 18, at the Falcon Children's Home Activity Building in Falcon. e DOT plans to award a contract next spring to a design and construc- tion team that will widen I-95 from Eastover exit 56 in Cumberland County to Dunn exit 71 in Harnett County. In 2020, the DOT is sched- uled to award another contract to extend the interstate expansion beyond exit 71 to exit 81 in Benson, where I-95 and I-40 intersect. I-95 additionally will need new interchanges and overpasses in Har- nett County. "We have to rebuild six interchanges with new bridges and overpasses and ramps and loops," said DOT spokesman Andrew Barks- dale. "ey are not up to modern design, and the bridges are substan- dard for height." e structures will be raised in height to better accom- modate truck traffic. Crashes and overall traffic safety are some of the factors used by DOT in determining which projects will get funded in the Transporta- tion Improvement Program. Fatal and otherwise serious crashes have occurred regularly in Eastover, and north into Harnett County where the highway has narrow medians and archaic metal guard rails. "I-95 is our East Coast main highway and a vital link in our state for business expansion, residential growth and tourism," said Grady Hunt, who represents Division Six on the N.C. Board of Transportation. "is will be a significant investment in North Carolina." e projects will mark the state's first substantial upgrade of I-95, which was funded in the 1950s as part of what became known as the Eisenhower interstate system. e combined projects are estimated to cost more than $700 million in land acquisition and construc- tion, including appropriations the state transportation improvement program and a $147 million federal program known as Infrastructure for Rebuilding America. e DOT was awarded the federal grant this sum- mer. State transportation officials hope to widen other sections of I-95 in future projects. e open house Oct. 18 will be informal, designed to allow people to examine maps, talk with DOT repre- sentatives and provide feedback. e department will accept comments on the projects through Nov. 2. For more information or to send comments, contact Scott Pridgen at Division Six at 910-364-0603 or on- line at gspridgen@ncdot.gov; or P.O. Box 1150, Fayetteville, NC, 28302. NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled per- sons who wish to participate in the Oct. 10 workshop. People requiring special services should contact Diane Wilson at pdwilson1@ncdot.gov or 919-707-6073. Local I-95 expansion planned by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS e DOT plans to award a contract next spring to a design and construction team that will widen I-95 from Eastover exit 56 in Cumberland County to Dunn exit 71 in Harnett County. JEFF THOMPSON, Re- porter. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. DISASTERS DON'T PLAN AHEAD. YOU CAN. WWW.READY.GOV