DOT To Fund Three More Sections of Northern Beltway

A Forsyth County highway project got a major boost under a new state funding formula. 

The State Department of Transportation says it will provide money for three additional segments of the Eastern Leg of the Northern Beltway. The state will also maintain funding for renovations to Business 40 in downtown Winston-Salem. The projects are expected to improve traffic in Winston-Salem and beyond.

Gov. McCrory announced Thursday that three more segments of the beltway will be funded by the state department of transportation over the next eight years.

Pat Ivey is a division engineer for the DOT. He says the funding news was a relief after years of postponing projects for lack of money.

"We've got a lot of projects that need to be funded up here, and with this new program it looks like we're finally going to see those realized," he says.

Ivey says the new stretch of highway will help relieve congestion in eastern Forsyth. The program  does not yet include money to extend the beltway from Walkertown to US 52 in northern Forsyth.  McCrory says he'll ask the legislature for a $1 billion transportation bond that could provide money for that section.

The idea is to one day have an urban loop that also includes a western leg on the Clemmons side. Ivey says it could be 2025 or later before money for that project comes through.