Durham's new city manager - Part 1: Why Bonfield left Pensacola
Durham's new city manager - Part 2: Bonfield's Pensacola legacy

H-S: East End Connector creeps closer towards full funding

Good news from today's Herald-Sun about the future of the East End Connector. If you're new to the project scene, the EEC is a short (2.5 mile) highway that would link US 70 with the Durham Freeway in East Durham, creating a direct freeway connection between I-85, RTP and downtown -- likely reducing the strain of North Durham commuter traffic on residential city streets near the urban core.

The newest version of the state's road-construction plan will include $32 million more for Durham's long-planned East End Connector, the city's delegate on the N.C. Board of Transportation says.

That allocation follows earlier commitments of nearly $100 million and keeps the project on track for a 2013 construction start, board member and Durham lawyer Ken Spaulding said Wednesday....

Spaulding and other local officials likely have to find at least another $30 million in the next year or so to fully fund the project.

Kudos for Spaulding -- who's been an effective advocate for Durham needs on the highly-politicized Board of Transportation -- and to City and County leaders and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO planning organization for keeping their collective eyes on the ball, focusing on getting funding for the EEC.

We'll leave as past history the fact that Durham, the fourth-largest city in North Carolina, has been historically underserved by state urban loop funding, which has supported projects not only in larger cities like Raleigh, Greensboro and Charlotte, but also to smaller urbs like Fayetteville and Wilmington. In fairness, some of that bypass seems to date back to Durham's understandable desire not to see the Eno Drive loop built, but with civic leaders solidly behind the EEC, it's time for catch-up.

To that end, Ray Gronberg's H-S article points out that Durham leaders have agreed to re-divert state funds available under the rather inequitable "equity formula" to the project. Wisely, the NCDOT is also looking at making the EEC merely four lanes instead of six lanes, while leaving room to allow for future road expansion once NC 147 is widened to six lanes itself, a project that is likely over a decade away.

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