By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
The U.S. Highway 17 bypass at Washington is scheduled to open at approximately 11 a.m. today — about eight months ahead of schedule.
William Kincannon, a N.C. Department of Transportation resident engineer in Greenville, sent a fax regarding the opening to area media, law-enforcement agencies, emergency-service agencies and local governments on Monday.
The opening of the bypass presents some challenges to those agencies.
Mick Reed, chief of the Washington Police Department, said his department is working with Beaufort County officials and the Highway Patrol to develop strategies for dealing with emergencies on the bypass. In some instances, Washington officers patrolling the bypass, including its bridge over the Tar River, will be required to enter other jurisdictions to return to the city, Reed noted. The opening of the bypass creates some logistical items to be worked out, Reed said.
“We’re going to give it as much attention as we can,” he said.
Earlier this year, Washington’s Fire-Rescue-EMS Department conducted training exercises on the bypass to prepare them to handle emergencies that could arise along the bypass. Those exercises include using equipment purchased with money provided by the bypass contractor.
In a brief interview late last week, Kincannon said a semi-final inspection was made Thursday, with that inspection determining the contractor had “a good deal of work to do” in regard to final preparations needed before the bypass could open.
Crews worked through the weekend to complete those preparations, Kincannon said.
Some people wanted the bypass opened sooner, Kincannon said Friday, but doing so what have meant traffic on the bypass having to negotiate work zones. That would not have been safe, he said.
The project, which had been the state’s most expensive highway project while under way, was a joint venture between Flatiron Constructors and United Contractors.
The bypass will reroute some traffic on U.S. 17 around Washington, rather than through it, as happens under the existing traffic pattern.
The speed limit on the bypass will be 70 mph, according to DOT’s Web site.
The bypass project is showing about a 3.82-percent cost overrun, according to the latest figures available from DOT’s Web site. Those overruns were caused by several factors, including design modifications and environmental-compliance moves, Kincannon said in an interview late last year.
Construction on the $192 million project began in March 2007. The 6.8-mile bypass, stretching from Price Road near Chocowinity to Springs Road in Washington, is the first highway project in Beaufort County to be constructed using the “design-build” method. The “top-down” method of building the bypass bridge received international attention, and more.
The N.C. Department of Transportation and Flatiron/United received a Federal Highway Administration Award for Environmental Excellence in Ecosystems, Habitat and Wildlife for the bypass project.