The Albemarle Rural Planning Organization has submitted to the state Board of Transportation its highway funding requests for projects within Division One, Angela Welsh, ARPO director, reported Dec. 15.

The requests will be included in the draft 2018-2027 State Transportation Improvement Program, which “should be adopted by the Board of Transportation in June of 2017,” Welsh stated.

The only “division needs” project sent forward for Tyrrell County is one to construct 305 feet of sidewalk on the north side of Main Street in front of Columbia Middle School at a cost of $40,000. This project is expected to be completed before June 30, 2023.

Welsh also reported that Jim Trogdon, the National Transportation Director of the SAS Institute, told state lawmakers in Raleigh on Dec. 12 that North Carolina will see a 50-percent increase in population in the next five years, from nine million to 13 million inhabitants, and is the fourth fastest growing state in the nation.

Trogdon went on to say that highway congestion increases five to 10 percent with every 100,000 new people to locate in a municipality and that the transportation needs being submitted are far greater than the state has funding for.

During their remarks, both urban and rural legislators on the joint committee stated that transportation needs of rural areas must be taken into account when the General Assembly seeks long term funding solutions, Welsh stated.

Rural highway funding has taken a back seat for the past two years. Of high importance to Tyrrell residents are proposals to widen U.S. Highway 64 between Columbia and Manns Harbor and replace the Alligator River bridge with a four-lane, high-rise structure. Both point scores too low to be included in the State Transportation Improvement Program for funding. The statewide projects point system favors projects to improve urban roadways that have high traffic counts.