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/768930
JANUARY 4-10, 2017 UCW 9 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM A local roadway project which has been on the drawing board for years is about to get underway. Construction was to have begun in December, but needed supplies were not immediately available to the contractor, said DOT Division Construction Engineer Randy Wise. Replacement of the aging Rowan Street Bridge will result in the most dramatic change to the western downtown gateway since the existing bridge was built 60 years ago. The overpass carries NC 24-210 (Rowan St) over CSX Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and Hillsboro Street. The state Department of Transportation deemed the overpass structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. "That means that while it remains safe, it's in deteriorating condition and needs to be replaced," said DOT spokesperson Peggy Beach. "It was built to design standards no longer used in bridge building," she added. DOT let the project in July of this year at an estimated cost of $18 million. The actual cost is $24.3 million, according to the bid awarded the contractor, S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson, NC. Utility companies have finalized the work of relocating utilities (power, phone, cable, other communications). In addition, the relocation of water and sewer lines has been authorized, according to PWC. Work on the sewer will be the first sign of actual construction work getting underway, said Wise. That requires the temporary closing of Hillsboro St. in the immediate vicinity of the project. That should take place any day now. A detour has been marked. Work on bridge fills and culverts will follow. "While there are already things going on with the project that are not really evident, the biggest sign to the public that the project has begun, will be the closing of Hillsboro St.," Wise added. The new bridges will be impressive, but the real change will be the reconfiguration of the streets. Rowan Street, Bragg Blvd., and Murchison Road will be realigned to join one another at a single intersection. There will be no roundabout, which at one time had been considered. The acquisition by the state of properties along Bragg Blvd., Hillsboro Street and Murchison Road is complete. They included the popular Vick's Drive-In, which had been there nearly as long as the bridge. The entire project will take an estimated three years to complete, said DOT. An animated likeness of the end result can be seen on YouTube at Rowan Street Bridge Project Virtual Flyover. Fayetteville Technical Community College has compiled data reflecting that in FY15, FTCC 's total impact on the Cumberland County economy was $697.4 million in added income, which is equal to 3.4 percent of the region's Gross Regional Product. A regional economic impact analysis was conducted by Economic Modeling Specialist International based in Moscow, Idaho. It examined the impact of FTCC on the local business community through increased consumer spending and enhanced business productivity. The results were measured in terms of added income, and were organized according to three effects: 1) impact of college operations; 2) impact of the spending of students who relocated to the county, and; 3) impact of the increased productivity of alumni who were employed in the regional workforce during the analysis year. • Impact of college operations: In Fiscal Year 2015, the college employed 1,501 full-time and part-time faculty and staff. Payroll at FTCC amounted to $57 million, much of which was spent in Cumberland County for groceries, eating out, clothing and other household goods and services. The college spent another $46.2 million in support of its day-to-day operations. The net impact of college payroll and expenses in Cumberland County during the analysis year was approximately $69.9 million in added income. • Impact of student spending: Approximately 16 percent of students attending FTCC came from outside the county. Some of these students relocated to Cumberland County. In addition, some students would have left the county if not for FTCC. These relocated and retained students spent money on groceries, transportation, rent and more at local businesses. Their expenditures during the analysis year added approximately $28.5 million in income to the Cumberland County economy, the study concluded. • Impact of alumni productivity: Over the years, students who studied at FTCC entered or re-entered the workforce with newly-acquired skills. Thousands of these former students are employed in Cumberland County. Their accumulated contributions amounted to $599.1 million in added income during the analysis year. That's the equivalent of 7,517 jobs . "Approximately 88 percent of FTCC's students remain in North Carolina upon completing their education goals," said Dr. Larry Keen, FTCC President. "As our students earn more, they and their employers pay higher taxes through increased output and spending. Over the students' working lives, state and local government in North Carolina will collect $227.6 million in the form of higher tax receipts," he added. Keen noted that "employers will earn more as their businesses become more productive." It's estimated that over their working lives, FTCC's student population will generate a present value of $2.6 billion in added income in North Carolina. Fayetteville Area Industrial Education Center was established in 1961, two years before the statewide community college system was formally established. It became Fayetteville Technical Institute (FTI) in 1963 and was renamed Fayetteville Technical Community College in 1988 to broaden the public image of technical and vocational postsecondary education and job training opportunities. Today, FTCC is the fourth largest school in the system serving over 40,000 students annually by providing over 200 occupational, technical, general education, college transfer, and continuing education programs. For more information visit FTCC's website at www.faytechcc.edu. NEWS FTCC's Economic Impact BY JEFF THOMPSON FTCC has a multi-million dollar impact on the local economy. Rowan Street Bridge Construction to Begin by JEFF THOMPSON An animated likeness of the proposed Rowan Street Bridge project can be seen on YouTube at Rowan Street Bridge Project Virtual Flyover. JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200.