Preliminary plans begin for U.S. 311 extension

Many municipalities and county leaders have given their support to the extension of U.S. Highway 311 through Eden and into Virginia to U.S. Highway 58.

Preliminary work has started on the extension, which would expand U.S. 311 from where it currently ends at N.C. Highways 87 and 14 to N.C. Highways 700/770 to Berry Hill Road. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has established an internal investigation along with a review committee to evaluate all route modifications. The project still has to be approved by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

NCDOT Division Traffic Engineer Dawn McPherson said the request came through in large part from Sen. Phil Berger Sr. to see how viable the project would be. Once the project has met AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) requirements and Virginia has approved it, she said work can get started on pulling funding together and drafting an ordinance to create the new U.S. 311 route.

McPherson said the project wouldn’t require much money because no major roadwork is involved.

“All we’re really talking about is putting up some shields and doing some signage work, so it’s probably not going to cost a lot,” she said. “It will more likely be in the range of thousands, but I’m not sure exactly because we haven’t even been looking at how much signage we will need.”

Many local officials are behind the project and the spotlight it could bring to the area. Eden’s Economic Development Director, Mike Dougherty, said it always helps to have a U.S. highway running through your town.

“One of the problems we’ve had in the past is people going to mapping systems where they didn’t pick up Highway 14, so they’ve ended up routing people through Highway 87 all the way to Wentworth – that was horrible,” he said. “This will be a U.S. highway with more prominence, and they can put up bigger signs because of that.”

Dougherty said it’s good anytime a city can increase its visibility and hopefully it will be something that can help in business recruitment.

“We’re grateful that Sen. Berger has been a really big advocate for this,” he said. “It’s also interesting that it’s going down Berry Hill Road because of all the investment that’s happening down there with the Mega Park. With its recent $6.2 million grant and us beginning the process of running a sewer line there, it’s a nice touch.”

Eden City Manager Brad Corcoran said the extension of U.S. 311 will provide more mobility between North Carolina and Virginia and make the area more enticing for development to take place.

“When the Mega Park is being marketed, it will now be a U.S. highway rather than a state road,” he said. “This U.S. highway will traverse Eden, whereas only state roads do now. For a community that suffers from a lack of highway access, this designation improves our standing.”

NCDOT is still in the process of receiving appropriate resolutions from municipalities in North Carolina. The AASHTO applications from the state will be submitted prior to March 31 for consideration.