THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020456
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Four-laning the remaining narrow stretch of U.S. 17 between Edenton and the Virginia state line will begin this summer, a Board of Transportation official said Tuesday.
Friday, the board is expected to approve an $11.7 million contract to widen 8.3 miles of two-lane U.S. Route 17 between Hertford and Edenton, said R.V. Owens III, a Dare County member of the governing transportation panel.
``The work will start this summer and should be completed by June of 1998,'' Owens said.
Six contractors have bid on the U.S. 17 widening, said Owens, adding that the apparent low bidder is Glover Construction Co. of Pleasant Hill. Glover's bid was 8 percent under the estimated cost of $11,750,762.09, Owens said.
U.S. Route 17 is now four lanes for 35 miles from the Virginia border, through Elizabeth City to just below Hertford. The road is heavily traveled by Albemarle residents who work in Tidewater, as well as by north-south coastal traffic and westbound traffic to Raleigh.
Engineering tests have already been started for piling supports that will carry a new U.S. Route 17 bridge across the Chowan River from Edenton to Bertie County on the western bank. When an existing two-lane span is refurbished, the old and the new bridges will extend the four-lane highway to within 16 miles of the present widened expressway road between Windsor and Williamston.
The new Chowan River bridge is included in a state DOT Transportation Improvement Program scheduled to be completed by the end of this century.
The final link of a four-lane expressway between Raleigh and Virginia is due to be completed by the year 2000, with the widening of U.S. 64 between Williamston and Tarboro. U.S. Route 64 joins U.S. Route 17 at Williamston.
Another highway contract scheduled for approval when the Transportation Board meets in Raleigh this week calls for repaving the old two-lane Point Harbor bridge across Currituck Sound to Kitty Hawk in Dare County. A new bridge that parallels the old span opened for traffic this year, providing four-lane traffic on U.S. 158 to and from the Outer Banks from mainland Currituck County.
The state Department of Transportation estimates it will cost more than $1 million to repave the old Wright Bridge.
Owens said work on the Point Harbor bridge repaving will probably begin after this year's tourist season ends and should be completed by November of 1996.
``The old bridge at Point Harbor will be closed for paving only during the winter months - we'd be pretty dumb to close it during the tourist season next year,'' Owens said. by CNB