Monday, November 4, 2024

Wilmington and NCDOT both say they’re not the ones redoing downtown curbs

Construction crews tore out the curbs at Dock and Front streets in downtown Wilmington. It's not clear from whom they were working. (Port City Daily photo / Benjamin Schachtman)
Construction crews tore out the curbs at Dock and Front streets in downtown Wilmington. (Port City Daily photo / Staff photo)

WILMINGTON — Several curbs in downtown Wilmington were torn up and reinstalled this week.

On Wednesday and Thursday, work crews removed the corner curbs at the intersection of Dock and Front streets and reinstalled them. The new curbs appear similar to the original ones.

The original curb condition at Front and Dock streets, prior to this week's construction. (Port City Daily photo / Google)
The original curb condition at Front and Dock streets, prior to this week’s construction. (Port City Daily photo / Google)

According to City of Wilmington spokesperson Dylan Lee, the curb replacement was a North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) project. But an NCDOT spokesperson said the streets involved are city-maintained, and that NCDOT was not involved. Construction workers on the scene said only that they were working for a contractor.

Despite NCDOT’s statement, it’s pretty clear the curb replacements are its project.

The draft State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for fiscal year 2020-2029, released by the NCDOT on Thursday does include funding for work around the state to “upgrade intersections to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)” and includes $500,000 in funding for NCDOT Division 3 (Brunswick, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, and Sampson counties); the funding includes $100,000 in state funds and $400,000 from the NCDOT’s transportation alternatives program.

According to a May 16, 2019 document from the NCDOT’s bidding and letting website, the Front and Dock insection is one of ten Wilmington locations slated to receive new ADA curb ramps. These include the insection of South Front and Church, Castle, Nun, Ann, and Orange, and Dock streets. It also includes the intersections of Water and Orange, Muters and Dock streets, as well as the intersection of Dock and Second streets. The document also includes 17 intersections in Wrightsville Beach, along North and South Lumina Avenue.

The NCDOT received three bids for the Division Three project: Jymco Construction Company, $736,277; Browe Construction Company, $899,820; and Little Mt. Builders, $1,112,431.50. The NCDOT engineer’s estimate for the project was $858,505.

The invitation to bid gives a completion date of May 31, 2020.

Details on the final cost and the selection process for which intersections are getting new curbs are not available. A spokesperson for the NCDOT said on Friday the department would double-check for more information on the project.

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