20181598_Att. 12 - US 70 bypass around Havelock d_20160222

2/16/2016 U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock delayed again - News - Havelock News - Havelock, NC Attachment 12
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Construction on the U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock has been delayed again, this time
for a year, according to the state's latest transportation plan.
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By Drew C. Wilson, Havelock News
Pbsted Dec. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 10, 2014 at 3:43 PM
Construction on the U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock has been delayed again, this time for a
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U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock delayed again - News - Havelock News - Havelock, NC
year, according to the state's latest
transportation plan.
Construction of the 10-mile bypass is now
scheduled to start in 2018 under the new draft
State Transportation Improvement Program
announced last week by Gov. Pat McCrory and
Tony Tata, secretary of the N.C. Department of
Transportation.
Construction had been scheduled for 2017, but a
new state formula on road projects that
incorporated regional impact, statewide mobility
and other area transportation needs pushed the project back a year.
`�I think ultimately in the long run it will be a positive for Havelock," Havelock Mayor Will Lewis
said of the bypass. "I think we need to be focused on it with long-term vision. I think initially the
bypass could hurt us a little bit."
The bypass first appeared in DOT transportation plans during the 1970s, with lack of funding,
other state highway needs and environmental issues causing multiple delays through the years.
`�I think people have been talking about the bypass literally since I was born," Lewis said. "I
remember being in high school remembering them talking about how there was a bypass
coming, but every time it came to actually spending the dollars, DOT either didn't have the
money that they needed or it wasn't a high enough priority to be funded. It's always been pushed
further down the timeline."
The $210.8 million project includes a four-lane divided highway that will circle the city to the
south. As proposed, it will stretch from near the Craven County Recycling Center just west of
Tucker Creek to just beyond the city limits to the east beyond Shepard Street. The plan calls for
an interchange at Lake Road, with 16 households and two businesses having to be demolished or
relocated to make way for the highway.
According to the DOT, Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle Bonds will be used to pay for
construction, which is expected to last until 2021. The bonds allow the state to pledge future
federal highway money to pay for the project.
Lewis said the bypass would provide an opportunity for city growth. Weyerhaeuser has already
proposed a commercial and residential project near the bypass interchange with Lake Road.
��We need to look at it as kind of an opportunity for Havelock to grow in a different way that we
haven't had the opportunity to do before," �ewis said.
`�I think overall, if the bypass does happen like they are saying it will, we'll grow south as a city,
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2/16l2016
U.S. 70 bypass around Havelock delayed again- News - Havelock News - Havelock, NC
which is a different direction physically than we have. I think you'll see developments from
Weyerhaeuser and new commercial and even residential that you don't see now." �
The bypass would be designed to decrease traffic through the city. A 2008 DOT study estimated
that more than 55,000 vehicles would use U.S. 70 in Havelock each day by 2035, with between
17,900 and 22,000 of those heading to points outside of the city.
,
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