ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) At first, the $13 million repaving of a 10-mi. (16 km) stretch of Interstate 26 in North Carolina wasn’t a stimulus project. Then it was. Now it may not be.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that the state Transportation Department had planned to use federal interstate aid for the Polk County project before Congress passed the stimulus package.
Other work also scheduled before the stimulus are now stimulus projects, including a bridge replacement in Cherokee County.
In picking projects already planned, the state is complying with the federal requirement for “shovel-ready’’ projects. DOT officials said money spent on those efforts will free up state funds for other work.
State officials tentatively have approved returning the I-26 project to regular funding to avoid going over budget on stimulus money.
