News Editor

WINTON – Five secondary roads within the Hertford County system are scheduled for upcoming improvements.

On June 7, NC DOT Division Engineer Don Conner met with the Hertford County Board of Commissioners to discuss the 2004-05 Secondary Road Improvement Program. Conner pointed out the five roadways that have been deemed as &uot;priority list&uot; projects for the upcoming fiscal year.

Topping the list is the Jim Hardy Road, located off NC 561 in the southwestern part of the county. Currently, the road is paved past the Forest Inn nightclub. The proposed project will pave an additional .15 miles of the road, basically taking it just past the cemetery where the road will then turn to rock.

The project will grade, drain, stabilize and pave the road at an estimated cost of $25,000.

Commissioner DuPont Davis inquired about the remainder of the road, asking when it would be paved all the way to the St. Johns-Menola Road. Conner answered by saying that the remainder of the project was, &uot;a right-of-way issue.&uot;

The other four priority list projects were as follows:

Bazemore Road (SR 1145 located between Cofield and Harrellsville off NC 45) – widen, strengthen and upgrade 2.0 miles at a cost of $180,000.

Lee Jernigan Road (SR 1101 south of Ahoskie) – widen, strengthen and upgrade 1.28 miles from the Johnny Mitchell Road intersection to the Bertie County line. Cost: $120,000.

Thomas Bridge Road (SR 1427 in Cofield) – replace crosslines, strengthen and upgrade 1.17 miles at a cost of $90,000.

Earley Station Road (SR 1106 south of Ahoskie) – strengthen and upgrade 1.13 miles from the intersection at Church Road to the Bertie County line. Replacing the railroad crossing is also included in this project. Total cost: $115,000.

In addition, the NC DOT budget for Hertford County includes $75,000 for roadway pipe replacement and associated drainage projects.

The total allocation for Hertford County in the upcoming fiscal year is $748,114.

&uot;There could be a slight increase in your road improvement allocation depending upon what the General Assembly does with the new budget,&uot; said Conner.

If additional funds do become available, Conner said three projects, now listed as alternatives, could be added to the priority list. They are the Earley Station Road (widen, strengthen and upgrade 1.77 miles from NC 42 at Poortown to the Church Road intersection; $175,000), another 0.95-mile stretch of the Lee Jernigan Road ($70,000) and 7.0 miles of work on the Boone’s Bridge Road (SR 1311 near Como) to the Northampton County line at a cost of $70,000.

Conner was asked about adding the Triple C Bible Camp Road (located off NC 461 between Union and St. Johns) to the state’s list of maintained roadways. He responded by saying that particular road cannot be added to the system due to not meeting the state’s home density requirement.