THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504300089
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MOYOCK LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
For those motorists and frustrated residents held hostage by the steady flow of summer traffic on congested two-lane state Route 168, take heart: Change is coming down the road.
Beginning Monday, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will begin widening 3.6 miles of highway from the Virginia state line to Survey Road.
Barnhill Construction Co. of Tarboro, which operates an asphalt plant in the southern part of the county, was awarded the $6.6 million state contract to expand the first highway section to five lanes.
Weekday commuters may experience some delays during the summerlong construction, but the current two lanes should remain open from noon Friday through 6 a.m. Monday.
``It was set up in the contract that we will not detain or alter the traffic flow on holidays and weekends during the summer,'' said Tommy Brite, the resident engineer in charge of the project.
``I'm sure things are going to be slow at times, but we're going to do all we can to maintain traffic at all times,'' he added.
Along with the highway expansion, the traffic light at Shingle Landing Road will be replaced with an updated model, Brite said, which should reduce time spent waiting for the lights to change.
Another traffic light a little farther south will be installed at the Puddin Ridge Road intersection, which is the main access for the Quail Run and Wildwood residential developments.
Once the first phase is completed this fall, construction crews will begin work on an eight-mile stretch between Sligo and Barco, where it will tie into the already widened U.S. 158.
The final portion between Moyock and Sligo may be completed as early as October 1996 and will then create 43 miles of five-lane road from the state line to the Wright Memorial Bridge at Point Harbor.
Brite said speed limits through work zones, which range from 35 mph to 55 mph, should remain in effect. Signs recommending reduced speeds may be erected if needed.
Signs are also being considered in Chesapeake, asking North Carolina-bound vacationers to consider taking U.S. 17, via Dominion Boulevard, on Saturdays and Sundays, said Mary Ann Saunders, the assistant to Chesapeake's city manager.
The 10-mile portion of Route 168 in Virginia, known as Battlefield Boulevard, isn't scheduled to be expanded for several years, she said Friday.
Chesapeake is looking into building a $113 million bypass - possibly with a toll - for Outer Banks-bound motorists, rather than broadening the lanes on its existing road, as North Carolina is doing.
The next milestone in the project will be a public hearing in July, Saunders said. by CNB