THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110228
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HARBINGER LENGTH: 106 lines
To those who hoped for improvements to U.S. 158 in lower Currituck County: Help may be on the way.
A North Carolina Department of Transportation study team is recommending a five-mile section of U.S. 158 be repaved to make it safer during wet weather.
And the area's outgoing state highway representative said Monday that he has found the $300,000 it will take to carry out the repairs next fall.
``Hopefully, we can get this problem fixed. I think that's the main thing here,'' said R.V. Owens III, who is leaving his post as the area representative on the state's transportation board.
Owens' comments came during a meeting Monday morning at the DOT bridge maintenance building in Harbinger.
Currituck County commissioners Paul O'Neal and Owen Etheridge also were on hand for the announcement, along with three engineers who worked on a study that led to the recommendations.
At the onset of the informal meeting, Owens addressed criticism following his and DOT officials' failure to attend a county-sponsored public forum in Poplar Branch last month.
Someone from the DOT professional staff should have gone, Owens said. ``In all fairness, I think Don was trying to do what he thought was right, and that was gathering the facts. . . ,'' Owens said.
He was referring to Don Conner, the Division One engineer who said earlier that he wanted the DOT study to be based purely on facts and not sentiment.
Since 1993, Currituck County commissioners have asked for improvements on the five-lane highway, which pools with water when it rains and can cause vehicles to hydroplane.
Residents and Currituck public officials have asked for years to have the road resurfaced. County commissioners' first request in 1993 was partially answered.
In 1994, Owens helped find $500,000 to repave a portion of the road from Coinjock to Grandy, considered the most dangerous stretch at that time.
Picture signs advising that roads are slippery when wet also are posted on the popular road to and from the Outer Banks.
Following the resurfacing, the related accident rate on that section was cut in half, said Anthony Roper, an assistant division engineer who attended Monday's meeting.
But southern Currituck residents, and some in neighboring Dare County, said it's time to fix the rest of the road.
About 400 people have signed a petition calling for a better roadway. That drive, along with a public forum last month, was prompted by the deaths of two area men on U.S. 158 in Powells Point last November.
In response, state engineers conducted a recent study of road conditions along U.S. 158 from Grandy to the Wright Memorial Bridge.
Their findings indicate that the Grandy-to-Powells Point section of the highway had the most accidents recently, and the Harbinger-to-Point Harbor section had the most accidents overall, between 1993 and 1996.
There have been 43 accidents on wet roads between Grandy and Point Harbor between 1994 and 1996. Of those accidents, 30 percent occurred in the Grandy stretch and 34.8 took place in the Harbinger-to-bridge section, according to the DOT study released Monday.
Still, the two trouble spots have a wet-accident rate that is well below the statewide average of 46.3 crashes for every 100 million vehicle miles, the study indicates.
The 4.9-mile section from Grandy to Powells Point has a wet-accident rate of 19.4 and a 2.97-mile stretch between Harbinger and the bridge has a 36.89 rate, both between 1994 and 1996.
Although the wet-accident rate is lower in the Grandy section, eight of the last 11 accidents have occurred there, including the November crash.
A DOT official also said Monday that the ruts in the roads are considered ``light'' by DOT standards, measuring three-eighths of an inch deep at most.
Engineers are recommending the Grandy section be treated with ``a modified latest microsurfacing,'' which will fill in depressions.
It won't completely shed standing water, Conner said. ``We hope to lessen it. But it's not going to totally eliminate it.''
A similar treatment was given to the Coinjock section of the highway three years ago.
Improving shoulder conditions to aid drainage also will be considered, according to the study.
In all other areas, microsurfacing will be delayed until significant rutting occurs. In the meantime, signs will be posted to warn motorists to slow down when it rains.
Although Owens agrees with the recommendations, he questioned the value of new signs.
``Local people do not read signs. The only thing they read is that blue light,'' he said. Signs may, however, help with tourist traffic, which was a big concern among Currituck commissioners.
Everyone agreed Monday's recommended course of action was a good start.
``I'm very pleased with what I've heard today. And I think the citizens are going to be very pleased,'' O'Neal said.
Owens said he has talked to Highway Administrator Larry R. Goode, who has said he will find funds for the project in the upcoming fiscal year that begins in July.
The resurfacing project is likely to begin in the fall and take two to three weeks to complete, officials said. ILLUSTRATION: SEEKING A SAFTER ROAD
A North Carolina Department of Transportation study team is
recommending a five-mile section of U.S. 158 be repaved to make it
safer during wet weather.
The area's outgoing state highway representative said Monday that he
has found the $300,000 it will take to carry out the repairs next
fall.
``Hopefully, we can get this problem fixed. I think that's the main
thing here,'' said R.V. Owens III, who is leaving his post as the
area representative on the state's transportation board.