From Sunday's paper
U.S. 311 Bypass work delayed
HIGH POINT - Work on the U.S. 311 Bypass from High Point into Randolph County has been delayed at least nine months, pushing the construction start to mid-2006.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is scheduled to select contractors in May 2006, said John Hunsinger, the division project manager for the Greensboro region.
The next segment will take the road from where it ends at Business 85 to Spencer Road in Randolph County.
Officials had hoped to begin work in September. But a state transportation funding crunch has delayed the project. Hunsinger said the date is subject to change. The new work schedule is expected to be approved by the state in July.
Phil Wylie, High Point's transportation director, said any delay affects the entire Piedmont Triad.
"I think it (the road) would help not just High Point, but the region," Wylie said.
Since the latest segment of the road opened in November from Eastchester Drive to Business 85, drivers want to know when the road will be extended to Interstate 85, Wylie said.
"Any loss of time affects us because a lot of folks use 311," he said.
Hunsinger said he did not have a timeline for construction of the next segment, although Wylie believes it will take about three years.
Previous construction estimates place the cost of the next phase of the road at $96.8 million.
Funding has not been secured for the remaining eight miles of the road to U.S. 220, which is tentatively scheduled to begin sometime after 2012.
The bypass will eventually allow drivers to get from Interstate 40 in Winston-Salem to U.S. 220 and avoid U.S. 311, which takes motorists through downtown High Point and Archdale. That road will become U.S. 311 Business.
Once completed to U.S. 220, the bypass can also be designated as Interstate 74, which will run from Iowa to Wilmington.