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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

NC DOT Takes I-95 Study on the Road

North Carolina's I-95 Corridor.
By 25or6to4 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
North Carolina's I-95 Corridor.

 

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is taking its I-95 feasibility study on the road. 

The DOT is hosting a series of public hearings across the state to discuss a large-scale plan to improve the entire 182-mile stretch of the North Carolina Corridor. WHQR’s Sara Wood reports the study considers upgrading the full 182-mile span of the North Carolina Corridor.

Significant improvements to the state’s portion of I-95 haven’t been made since it was built more than 60 years ago. Kristine O’Connor with the DOT says the public hearings are a chance to discuss the need for modernizing the corridor.

 “I would say if you ride on I-95 regularly then you could generally confirm that it needs work. It needs to be widened. There are bridges in Harnett County that need to be raised, they’re not tall enough to accommodate the trucks that have gotten larger. And that’s something we are consistently hearing is people do understand that the road needs to be improved.”

O’Connor says the preliminary cost estimate for the project is $4.4 billion and the DOT is proposing to pay for this with eight possible tolls, including one in Lumberton around mile marker 28. The DOT will hold four more public hearings later this month, including one in Cumberland County.