CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Transportation maintains over 80,000 miles of road in the state. That includes making sure the road markings and reflectors are in good condition for drivers to see.
NCDOT has a project planned to re-stripe areas of I-485. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization was awarded COVID federal relief funds for use in maintenance-type activities.
A $1 million contract will go toward re-striping various locations in Mecklenburg County. Jennifer Thompson with NCDOT said it includes a nine-mile section of I-485 in the southwest portion of the county.
“We're going to also try to get some of the ramps that are in that corridor included in that resurfacing, and the re-striping,” Thompson said.
It's an area of concern for some.
“Some lines are straight, some lines are together and you don’t know exactly where you have to go,” Juan Lirano, a Steele Creek resident, said.
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Another person that WCNC Charlotte spoke to said they were concerned about if current road conditions are safe when lines are hard to see.
"This is very dangerous -- some lines are almost nonexistent," the person said. "It is very hard to see at night and in bad weather. It is hard to watch traffic and stay within the lines and it gets very dangerous the way a lot of people drive."
The agency was hoping contractors would get started on those resurfacing projects this week.
“We were supposed to start this project back in the summer and be complete around this time," Thompson said. "Material shortage again has pushed it back. And so now we're running into the issue with the weather and the seasonal limitations."
Now all eyes are on the weather conditions to start resurfacing and re-striping roadways.
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“It wouldn't be feasible to do it or beneficial to do it because of cold temperatures, we need to have certain temperatures to put down this type of material," Thompson said. "So it's got to be for some maybe at least like in the 40s and rising.”
Seasonal limitations start Nov. 15 and will go through mid-March.
“Now that's not to say though... if we get a nice stretch of dry weather that that's warmer, we'll definitely permit contractors to go out there if we already have a project ready to start," Thompson said.
Work primarily happens at night when there is less traffic. Thomson said contractors are aiming to get started with the resurfacing projects after thanksgiving.
“The hope is maybe we can get some warm weather and be able to address it all before the end of the year," Thompson said. "But again, we're at the mercy of you know, cold weather and any precipitation that we receive.”
Thompson said resurfacing ramps up in the spring.
"Every year we award resurfacing contracts, and that's part of what's centrally awarded out of our Raleigh office,” explained Thompson. "Some of those cover many miles, like 20-plus miles of different sections of roadway. It could be a primary road, it could be a secondary road."
Progress was made in other areas, and reflective lenses were added to some of the snow-plowable markers.
“So when you're driving, you'll be able to see the lane markings and the reflective markers better," she said. "So that was on I-77... that was just completed between the state line up to the remount road exit on the southern portion of 77.”
It is also planning to address these areas:
- Morehead road between U.S. 29 and Victory court in Concord
- N.C. 51 between Lemmond drive and Phillips road in Matthews
- U.S. 74 between Windsor square drive and Matthews-mint hill road in Matthews
NCDOT does have contractors that ride the routes across the state and report any areas where the markings need to be redone. However, Thompson encourages drivers to reach out if they have areas of concern so they can look into it.
“We're going to send staff out to, you know, assess the condition, assess any safety concerns," Thompson said. "Look into what the traffic volumes are on that road, what kind of marking is it because we use different types of materials for different types of road surfaces.”
Roads in the worse conditions are prioritized.
“If it's an immediate need, we'll see if we can get maintenance to at least do something temporarily until we can do a permanent fix," Thompson said.
Thompson expects contractors to get started with resurfacing projects in the southwest part of the county in the coming weeks and reminds drivers to make sure to give them a safe space to work.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.