South New Hope Road widening project pushed off for years

A plan to widen a section of South New Hope Road near Cramerton was delayed due to problems with funding, but construction is now scheduled to begin in 2026, according to the N.C Department of Transportation.

The plan is to widen a nearly four-mile section of South New Hope Road, which also serves as N.C. 279, from Titman Road to Union-New Hope Road, making it a divided, four-lane road with a 10-foot multi-use pedestrian path on both sides.

The plan was introduced in 2018 and then suspended in 2019 because of funding limitations — the DOT averaged about $65 million per year in weather-related expenses for the decade leading up to Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and the state then had to pour money into repairing roads and other infrastructure after Matthew and other major storms, spending more than $220 million a year since the 2017 fiscal year.

Right of way acquisition for the South New Hope Road widening was originally slated to begin in summer 2020, with construction beginning in 2023.

But North Carolina Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jen Thompson said in August 2019 that the entire construction project would have to be pushed back.

“This project is not dead,” she said. “It’s just that we will probably have to hold off on doing any additional work or development on it until at least next year.”

That year stretched into three years, and NC DOT finally reinitiated the project in August, then held a public meeting about it in November. Now, right of way acquisition is expected to take place in June 2023, and construction is slated to begin in June 2026. The project is expected to cost a total of $113.4 million.

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: South New Hope Road widening project pushed off for years