Initial work is moving forward to improve safety on U.S. 64 between Columbia and Alligator River by widening the existing lanes and also installing five-foot paved shoulders, Brooks Braswell, NCDOT’s Division 1 planning engineer, based in Edenton, said Jan. 25.

He also said a federally required environmental study is expected to be issued this year. It will be another step toward replacing the Alligator River bridge with a two-lane, high-rise structure and eliminating the swingspan that has affected navigation in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway since 1965.

Both projects are on the drawing board at present, with no funding in sight, he explained.

Four-laning of U.S. 64 between Columbia and Manns Harbor is precluded because of its low standing in the data-driven statewide funding formula.

Braswell reported to the Albemarle Rural Planning Organization in Hertford on Jan. 23 that resurfacing projects in Tyrrell County this spring will include Fort Landing, Goat Neck, and North Gum Neck roads.

No construction work beyond bridge repair and replacements is anticipated here in the next decade, his report showed.