By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

County residents will have an opportunity Monday to voice opinions of rural roads the N.C. Department of Transportation intends to pave this year.

The secondary road improvement plan will be presented today at the beginning of the Columbus County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Paving eight rural dirt roads totaling five miles is estimated to cost the state $1.8 million.

“A lot of folks think we spend money the way we want to but it’s predetermined,” DOT District Engineer Drew Cox said. “The unpaved road program is pretty much set in stone.”

Roads are evaluated on a point system and assigned a priority number, he said, and pointed out the public hearing is to notify the public how money is to be spent. In order to get a road paved it must meet state standards and property owners must be willing to sign over rights of way to the state.

The eight projects proposed range from 0.19 miles of paving estimated at $60,000 to 1.20 miles estimated at $480,000.

The projects are as follows: Baldwin Circle from SR 1437 to the end of maintenance, Charley Lennon Road from U.S. 701 to the Bladen County Line, Fred Strickland Road from SR1143 to SR 1173, Memory Corner Road from U.S. 701 to the end of maintenance, Sasspaw Road from SR 1740 to the Bladen County line, Ann Spaulding Road from SR 1713 to the end of maintenance, and Benton Road from SR 1574 to the end of maintenance.

If any of the projects must be put on hold for environmental review or because of an unavailable right of way, funds will be applied to roads listed in priority on the alternate paving list.

Paved road improvements proposed include a two-inch widening on each side of M.M. Ray and Will Inman roads in addition to two-inch widening in curves from N.C. 904 and N.C. 905.

The total project involves roughly 12 miles along SR 1006 and is estimated to cost $670,000.

Resurfacing of Green-Elkins Road is planned along with additional two-inch widening in curves from SR 1700 to SR 1702. It is estimated to cost $60,000.

Resurfacing on Baldwin Road with two-inch widening in curves from SR 1701 to the Bladen County line is planned at an anticipated cost of $160,000.

Maintenance and operations is budgeted at just under $500,000 and a reserve for surveying, rights of way and overdrafts totals just under $200,000.

Overall program funding totals nearly $3.4 million.