BENSON – The N.C. Department of Transportation has rescheduled a Johnston County open house for the public to review plans to widen Interstate 95.
The meeting, which was postponed this month for Tropical Storm Michael, will be held Thursday, Nov. 8, at the same time and venue as before: from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Hampton Inn, 100 Water Place Landing, Benson. The department held another open house for the same project last week in Cumberland County.
At the Benson meeting, NCDOT representatives will show design maps, answer questions and collect comments on the department’s plans to widen about 25 miles of I-95 from four lanes to eight lanes. The stretch covers from exit 56 in Cumberland County to exit 81 at Interstate 40.
Because the department postponed the Benson meeting, the comment period has been extended to Nov. 23. For more information or to send comments, contact Scott Pridgen at Division 6 at 910-364-0603; gspridgen@ncdot.gov; or P.O. Box 1150, Fayetteville, N.C., 28302.
NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact Diane Wilson at pdwilson1@ncdot.gov or 919-707-6073 as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.
The projects will mark the state’s first substantial upgrade of I-95, which was built beginning in the 1950s. The sections to be widened were prioritized for construction using a scoring system that uses factors such as congestion management and traffic volume. The project received funding in the department’s State Transportation Improvement Program. The project is being partially funded by a $147 million federal program known as Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or INFRA. The department was awarded the grant this summer to improve highways and broadband service in eastern North Carolina.
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