Road responsibility
JOURNAL EDITORIAL STAFF
Published: May 12, 2009
For 80 years, state government has planned, designed, built and maintained almost all of North Carolina's roads and highways. Unless individual counties or municipalities pursue responsibility for their own roads, this system should not change.
Bills in the General Assembly would shift responsibility to local governments in several different ways. One would do so outright, another with limits.
During the Great Depression, legislators understood that the economy of the state depended on good roads. Although no one was flush at the time, the state was in much better financial position than were local governments to pay for roads. So, in what is still considered one of the most progressive steps taken by any state government at the time, North Carolina took responsibility for almost all of its roads.
Today there are 79,000 state-maintained roads in North Carolina, one of the largest such systems in America. But our roads are hurting because the legislature has shown a favoritism to rural areas. The state's urban areas, which have the most traffic, are not getting as much of the revenue as they need to keep up with growth and maintenance demands.
Those problems do not warrant a dismantling of the current system. It still works. North Carolina needs good roads in every community.
Gov. Bev Perdue has already taken one very important step toward improving the state's transportation system. She has taken most decision-making power away from the politically charged Board of Transportation. The legislature could fix the rest of the problems by directing state revenues to projects in the areas with the most traffic.
Creating a patchwork of local systems would not solve our problems.
There are times when state control of the roads is not beneficial. Individual communities often chafe at having to work with the department of transportation on road projects that are very local in nature.
If the people of a community want to take control of their roads, then there should be something in state law that would allow them to do so.
That way, road decisions in many communities would be integrated into other development plans in ways that would allow local leaders the most options.
Of course, if local governments take responsibility for their roads, they must also get some of the local road tax revenues.
North Carolina has been well served by state control of transportation. With some requested exceptions allowed, it should continue with that system.
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