A bill pending before a state House committee could have disastrous consequences for rural eastern North Carolina.

To put it another way, many of the publicly funded roads you travel every day could deteriorate even further if this bill becomes law.

And the crumbling of these roads could negatively affect everything from your vehicle to our area’s ability to attract industry.

House Bill 635 would change the distribution formula for road funding, granting even greater favor to urban locations like those around Raleigh and Charlotte č locations that already have an advantage when it comes to state road money.

Clearly, this bill is a cash and power grab by legislators in the west-central part of the state.

It’s been noted some of these same lawmakers already are attacking the state’s ferry system by seeking to impose tolls on free routes and hike tolls where they already exist.

If this bill passes the House and Senate, and is signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue, projects like the ongoing four-laning of U.S. Highway 17 could be delayed or stopped altogether.

The four-laning of U.S. 17 has long been a bipartisan goal for numerous leaders east of Interstate 95.

The widening is necessary, not just for economic reasons č businesses like to have decent routes on which to ship their product č but for safety reasons.

The improvement of U.S. 17, from the Virginia border to the South Carolina line, would ease the flow of traffic through the eastern third of North Carolina and, in all likelihood, reduce deaths and injuries from road accidents on this highway.

House Bill 635 could bring an end to the long-hoped-for expansion of this vital, but in places all-too-narrow, artery.

At least a couple of our lawmakers agree.

“This bill is shocking, I guess is the right way to look at it,” said Rep. Bill Cook, R-Beaufort. “I was really surprised at how bad it is.”

“It would be absolutely devastating, in my opinion, to the east and to the west, to any of the rural areas,” said Sen. Stan White, D-Dare.

Here’s how you can help defeat this insidious proposal: call your state senator or representative and ask him or her to oppose House Bill 635.

By almost any measure, the prosperity train has bypassed huge swaths of the counties in the Coastal Plain.

Let your voice be heard in Raleigh, whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, an unaffiliated voter or something else.

This is our future we’re talking about, and we can’t sit silently by while regional greed cuts our collective throat.