Transportation officials say drawbridge is 60 percent complete

Area leaders were assured by the state Department of Transportation on Tuesday that work on the Trent River drawbridge in New Bern is about 60 percent complete and still expected to be completed in November.

Division Two Engineer Neil Lassiter was one of two top highway administrators from Eastern North Carolina Department of Transportation divisions briefing leaders from five counties at the Down East Regional Planning Organization meeting in New Bern.

Division Two covers a five-county area that includes Craven, Pamlico, Jones and Carteret counties.

Onslow County, in DOT Division Three, is also in the RPO, and Division Three Engineer Alan Pope also spoke.

Lassiter told those attending, including New Bern Alderman Jay Mattingly and City Planner Mike Avery, that despite some slowdown of bridge work for the fish spawning moratorium, work is still on schedule. Lassiter also said the Broad Street beautification and enhancement project is expected to be complete this summer.

Lassiter said that bids for the U.S. 17 New Bern Bypass project awarded last week came in about 22 percent below estimates. That road will connect U.S. 70, from about a mile east of Clarks, to U.S. 17 at the Craven-Jones county line with a four-lane, limited access highway.

"Information that the bypass came in under bid and other New Bern projects are moving right along was welcome," said Rob Will, who represented the East Carolina Council of Governments, the RPO coordinator. "When there is time sensitivity, we want to hear good news and we got pretty good news."

Those attending, including Craven County Planner Don Baumgardner and Havelock Planner Scott Chase, were also advised that the 2.5-mile N.C. 43 connector from U.S. 70 to N.C. 43 and N.C. 55 is also on track for timely completion by December, although it could open for traffic in late June.

Will said that Mark Finlayson of the Highway 17 Association gave an update and that, despite a couple of setbacks, the overall Transportation Improvement Projects associated with U.S. 17 in our area are moving forward.

That includes the U.S. 17 section from N.C. 43 to Antioch Road, a 6.5-mile resurfacing and widening project now under construction and expected to be completed in November.

Pope said that Transportation Improvement Projects for Division Three in Onslow County include awarding a contract next year to replace Buddy Fields Bridge in Jacksonville and the money to acquire the right-of-way for a Jacksonville Bypass interchange at White Street to connect Bell Fork Road to Western Boulevard.

Sue Book can be reached at (252) 635-5666 or sbook@freedomenc.com.