Photo taken on Saturday, Nov 17
RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in NCDOT Now, the department’s weekly newscast.
Flood Repairs
Repairs are underway for many of the roads and bridges affected by torrential rain that led to flooding this past week. Alexander, Catawba, Watauga and Wake counties were the hardest hit. Crews are assessing damage and working to get roads back open as quickly as possible.
Pollinator Week
While driving, you’ve probably seen colorful wildflowers blooming along some of North Carolina’s highways, courtesy of the department’s Roadside Environmental Unit. Not only are these flowers beautiful, but they also provide pollinator habitats for insects such as bees, wasps, butterflies and even birds. All are essential to our ecosystem and economy.
June 17-23 is Pollinator Week, a time to focus on the declining number of pollinators in North Carolina and look for ways to help.
Start by planting flowers that supply pollinators with nectar, pollen and homes in your yard.
Avoid pesticides. If you must use them, get the least toxic ones and apply them at night when most pollinators aren’t active.
Learn more at Pollinator.org.
Student Safety Device
After seeing a classmate almost get hit by a car at a bus stop, a group of Wake County students designed a tool that alerts drivers and pedestrians near a bus stop that a bus is approaching.
A device inside the bus communicates to a solar-powered sign that signals when the bus is within 400 feet and again at the 30-foot mark. Samsung awarded the students with $110,000 that will pay for new school technology.
They were recently honored by the State Board of Transportation.
For more information about NCDOT Now, contact the NCDOT Communications Office at (919) 707-2660. Additional news stories from throughout the week can be found on NCDOT.gov.
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