By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
There have been multiple rear-end collisions and left-turn accidents on a certain two-lane portion of U.S. Highway 17 — further proof that some parts of the highway are dangerous for motorists, officials said.
Also plaguing one two-lane segment is “an above-average frequency of deer crashes,” DOT documents show.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is preparing to address these and other safety concerns related to one stretch of U.S. 17.
That stretch reaches from north of N.C. Highway 171 in Beaufort County to already widened lanes south of Williamston in Martin County.
And, even if construction dates aren’t just around the corner, a public-input session is.
DOT will hold an “informational workshop” on a proposal to widen about seven miles of the highway between N.C. 171 and the Williamston vicinity from two lanes to a four-lane, divided road.
The workshop will be held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Nov. 24 at Macedonia Christian Church in Bear Grass.
The public is welcome at any time during the workshop, and no formal presentation will be given, a DOT news release reads.
Anyone with questions about the workshop may call Olivia J. Farr, a DOT project planning engineer, at (919) 733-7844, extension 253. Farr may be reached by e-mail at ofarr@ncdot.gov.
“It’s a real informal workshop, so it’s a drop-in from 4 to 7,” Farr said Monday during a telephone interview.
DOT planning and roadway staff will be on hand to answer questions, she said.
“We really do want citizen participation in this,” she commented.
Staff will provide handouts with spaces for questions and comments that can be turned in on the spot or sent in later, Farr related.
Also present will be aerial-photography maps of the highway and adjacent properties.
“So people can see their property and get a good idea of what’s going on,” Farr said.
First and foremost on the U.S. 17 hierarchy of needs is upgrading the highway to multi-lane status, indicated Martin County Manager Russell Overman.
“There’s no doubt that that missing link needs to be completed,” Overman said.
He added that pushing out the highway’s borders “will be a great improvement for safety.”
“But it’s also a hurricane-evacuation route,” Farr pointed out.
Upgrading strategic corridors to allow for easier evacuations ahead of storms is part of DOT’s blueprint for the future, Farr related.
Despite safety concerns, the widening project won’t begin any time soon.
DOT hasn’t determined the exact route or scope of the initiative, and about $42.3 million of the construction package remains unfunded, according to Farr and Marc Finlayson, executive director of the Highway 17 Association.
“It’s partially funded and partially unfunded,” Finlayson said of the project.
Finlayson’s organization tracks and pushes for developments related to U.S. 17.
Asked about the large costs of highway construction, he added, “And this is a fairly modest project by DOT standards.”
The state’s Transportation Improvement Plan currently contains $4.225 million to acquire rights of way along the swath of corridor in question, and $3.2 million to move utility installations that could be affected by the widening, Finlayson said.
Half of the needed right-of-way money isn’t in the budget, he added.
The money assigned for the project is scheduled to be spent “way off in the future, six years from now,” Finlayson said.
“It’s going to take them that long to finish the design work and the permitting and so forth,” he stated.
Because the widening tasks are so far off, many components of the project have yet to be determined — including whether any homes or businesses will have to be moved as construction starts, Farr acknowledged.
While numerical accident data weren’t immediately available on Monday, Farr, Finlayson and others said that the widening project is, above all, a safety matter.
Finlayson said his association tries as often as it can to remind lawmakers that improving roads isn’t just good business, it saves lives and prevents accidents.
“Safety really, frankly, is the most important part,” he said. “The rest of it is important, and it’s a long-term goal that we hope to realize, but there are a lot of people getting killed and hurt on Highway 17 all the time, particularly on the two-lane stretches.”