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Local News - January 2003 |
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N.C. 16 Permit snags delay project By JACOB RUDOLPH, Staff Writer January 15, 2003 - DENVER — Construction on the first phase of N.C. 16 is right on schedule. However, the future of the second and third phases is still uncertain. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has yet to be granted the appropriate environmental permits to begin construction on phases two and three, according to project manager Drew Joyner. New coordination procedures with environmental agencies have stopped the advancement of the final phases in its tracks. The first phase is moving along on schedule, because it was started before the permit procurement process changed. “The permit process is different,” Joyner said. “The regulations are a little more stringent than they were when we started (this project).” Now, the DOT is required to merge federally mandated environmental acts with policies set forth by environmental agencies, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the N.C. Division of Water Quality. Along with the new coordination process has come new guidelines from environmental agencies. “There are a lot of stream impacts on this project,” Joyner said. “We weren’t required to mitigate for stream impact when we were putting together the planning document.” Now, Joyner said, NCDOT is required to do just that. If permits were granted today, NCDOT would begin taking construction bids in February 2004 for the second phase, and August 2004 for the third, according to Dan Grissom, construction engineer with NCDOT’s 12th district. The second phase, from N.C. 73 to St. James Church Road, is 4.7 miles long. The third phase, from St. James Church Road to Tower Road in Catawba County, stretches 5.8 miles. Progress on the first phase, from Lucia north to N.C 73, was delayed back in October, due to the permit problems. Construction on this initial phase, however, is on-track and 40 percent complete, Grissom said. This 5.9-mile section of the highway is estimated for completion in August 2004. If everything goes as planned, phase one of the roadway will be ready for traffic by the end of 2006, Grissom said. N.C. 16 roadwork began in September 2001. The total length of the highway will be 16.4, spanning the width of Lincoln County.
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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