Kinston Bypass Talk Draws A Crowd

A long-range plan to provide a smoother ride to the beach from Raleigh includes making changes around Lenoir County.

People there got their first taste of a new Highway 70 Bypass plan Tuesday night.

Nine On Your Side's Jim Niedelman tells us the idea to divide traffic is also dividing opinions.

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There are already some strong opinions about this even though construction wouldn't even begin until after 2015.

The Department of Transportation will use events like the workshop Tuesday night to figure out exactly what to do there.

Bypass or no bypass?

That is essentially the question D.O.T. wants to answer for Lenoir County.

"If we don't identify what the problems are, then we're gonna wake up one day and this road's gonna be clogged," said Ed Lewis, a North Carolina D.O.T. Environmental Analyst.

"I think it connects us with the rest of the world, with the rest of the state," said Lenoir County resident Courtney Patterson.

D.O.T. maps highlight increasing traffic on Highway 70 suggesting something likely needs to be done.

Stoplights through cities like Kinston slow things down.

A four-lane bypass to the north or south could get around that.

It would run 12 to 25 miles depending on the location at a cost of about $150 million.

"It's not necessary. If you look at the fact that Highway 70 as it stand now, the current Highway 70, is underutilized as it is," said Dover resident Mark Griffin.

D.O.T. engineers are studying the area between La Grange and Dover to figure out the best possible connection to ease congestion.

A Kinston bypass would take away a lot of traffic that comes through here now.

Businesses like the Neuse Sport Shop are used to people going hunting, fishing or to the beach come into the store.

That's something they don't want to lose.

"Concerned is the right word for it,” said Russell Rhodes, owner of the Neuse Sports Shop. “I think anyone would be concerned. I think, though, I've been informed enough to know what's, hope to think we know what's coming and we'll be prepared for it when it gets here."

Besides looking at a north or south bypass, D.O.T. will also consider upgrading the current highway.

It could also wind up doing nothing.

There will be another workshop like this on Thursday at the Public Services Complex in Kinston.

If D.O.T. keeps to its schedule with more public hearings and environmental studies in the coming years, a decision on a bypass could come in the summer of 2015.