Transportation officials have announced that within the next year contractors will pave the last 8 miles of state-maintained dirt and gravel roads in Forsyth County. For the past 20 years, Department of Transportation workers have slowly but surely been on a road-paving mission. The effort began in 1989, started by then-Gov. Jim Martin and lawmakers to improve and pave every state-maintained dirt and gravel road in North Carolina. Under the auspices of the N.C. Highway Trust Fund Act, the state has spent hundreds of millions of dollars collected in taxes and fees to blacktop 13,000 miles of roads. The work brought asphalt to the driveways of nearly 200,000 homes, according to Department of Transportation records. The money to pave the roads comes from gasoline and car-sale taxes, but fuel efficiency has impacted the amount of gas taxes collected. “We pay less to use the roads every day,” Gary Neal, Forsyth County maintenance engineer for the Transportation Department, said. At some point, the General Assembly will have to revisit money sources for road and highway construction, maintenance and improvements, Neal said.
by Annette Fuller
(WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL)
7/23/12
