Budget Concerns Prompt NCDOT Layoffs

The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to layoff hundreds of workers. State transportation officials say most of the cuts will impact temporary and contract workers. 

NCDOT is evaluating about 1,000 of these positions, but the exact number of layoffs has yet to bet determined. The agency says several factors are impacting their budget. Those include expenses from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Hurricane Florence last year, and slow disaster repayment from the federal government.

Another drain on the budget is about $300 million the state has spent to settle lawsuits related to the Map Act, which allows the state to designate highway corridors and limit property rights in the path of future roadways. Those expenses could reach more than a billion dollars.

NCDOT says it hopes the layoffs are temporary. Spokesman Steve Abbott says once the budget situation improves, the agency will be able to hire back some of the workers. He says ideally, that would be early next year.

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