Cities and towns in more than a dozen coastal counties have collectively received millions from a state transportation fund to resurface streets and repair roads and bridges.
Earlier this fall, the North Carolina Department of Transportation distributed half of $186 million from Powell Bill funds to more than 500 municipalities. Those cities and towns will receive the remaining half by Jan. 1, 2025.
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Powell Bill funds are distributed each year to municipalities to help cover costs associated with resurfacing streets and other transportation improvements. Funds may also be used to maintain, repair, construct or widen streets, bridges and drainage areas within municipal limits and to plan, construct and maintain bike paths, sidewalks or greenways.
“But a lot of folks are surprised to learn they can use the Powell Bill money for road and bridge repairs and other recovery efforts associated with natural disasters like Helene,” Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a statement.
That includes using funds to remove hurricane-related debris from municipally maintained, qualified Powell Bill program streets, according to a transportation department release.
Recipients of this year’s funding include 134 municipalities in parts of western North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene when the storm swept north after making landfall on Florida’s Big Bend in late September.
Transportation officials estimate infrastructure repairs needed following the storm to cost in the several billions.
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About a week before Helene ravaged portions of the western part of the state, an unnamed storm dumped upwards of 16 inches of rain on Brunswick County and areas of New Hanover County.
Sixteen of the 19 municipalities in Brunswick County will receive a total of more than $3.07 million in Powell Bill funds by the New Year.
The three beach towns and Wilmington in New Hanover County will receive a total of more than $4.45 million.
Powell Bill funding comes from revenues generated by the gas tax and other highway user fees.
The formula used to distribute funds – 75% based on population and 25% on the number of locally maintained street miles – was set by the North Carolina General Assembly.
Funding recipients in other coastal counties include, Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Tyrrell and Washington.
