Funds totaling nearly $300,000 are headed Mount Airy’s way to pay for street-related improvements.
This involves a $296,444 allocation from the State Street Aid to Municipalities program of the N.C. Department of Transportation, commonly known as Powell Bill funds.
The money is generated from state gas tax revenues that are given back to municipalities across the state based on a formula set by the N.C. General Assembly. Seventy-five percent of the fund distribution is based on population and 25% on the number of locally maintained street miles, which totals 73 in Mount Airy’s case.
Many citizens might assume the DOT is responsible for maintaining roadways. This is true for major routes including U.S. 52 or U.S. 601 which are part of its transportation network along with state-designated highways such as N.C. 89 or N.C. 103.
But Mount Airy has responsibility for keeping up city-owned roadways within its limits, for which it uses the Powell Bill monies. That also is the case with other municipalities in Surry County having certified non-state system mileage.
Powell Bill legislation that created the fund by that name in 1951 requires cities and towns to use the money primarily for street resurfacing. Yet it also can go toward the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, drainage systems, sidewalks, bikeways and greenways.
Mount Airy has been using its allocations in recent years for street-resurfacing projects clustered in one neighborhood at a time according to a priority system targeting the greatest needs.
“We always try to manage our timing and money in order to cover larger areas to get more competitive bids and hopefully better pricing,” City Manager Barbara Jones explained Wednesday afternoon.
An upcoming round of work will be focused on an area in the northern part of town off U.S. 52.
“We plan to pave streets within the Pine Creek Trail area,” Jones advised.
Pine Creek Trail, Laurel Lane and Valleyview Drive are the priorities for resurfacing. Mount Airy officials also hope to repave side streets (Camelia Court, Boston Circle, Laurel Creek Drive and Foxledge Drive) if the bids come in within budget, according to interim Public Works Director Mitch Williams.
Last year’s allocation was used for street-resurfacing projects for 15 streets in the Fancy Gap Road-Greenhill Road section.
The city manager added that Mount Airy’s budget for the present, 2020-21 fiscal year that began on July 1 projected Powell Bill funding of $310,807.
“However, we received notification that our allocation will be $296,444,” Jones confirmed, with the lesser figure presumably due to the impact of COVID-19 on travel and the resulting gas tax revenues.
“And we have just received $148,222.17, which is half of that amount, the city manager added. “The other half comes later in the (fiscal) year, typically in January.”
Mount Airy’s Powell Bill Fund balance stood at $575,992 as of June 30, according to figures provided by Jones, which included revenues accumulated from previous years.
“We will bid and do as much area as possible with our funding level.”
In all, nearly $132.7 million in Powell Bill funding is being distributed to 508 municipalities across the state.
Also in Surry County, Dobson’s allocation totals $41,839, with Pilot Mountain tapped for $41,301 and Elkin, $119,096, which are all down from 2019 sums.
Elsewhere, 23 cities are receiving at least $1 million, led by Charlotte at $13.7 million based on its population of 863,985 and 2,537 miles of maintained roads. Raleigh will get $7.1 million, trailed by Greensboro ($7 million), Durham ($6.1 million), Winston-Salem ($6 million) and Fayetteville ($4.9 million).
The fund is named for Junius K. Powell, a former state senator and mayor of Whiteville who was a primary sponsor of the 1951 bill to help the state’s cities with urban road problems. The first allocation of Powell Bill funds, $4.5 million, was distributed to 386 cities and towns.
Including the latest allocations, municipalities have received more than $4.8 billion in street aid funding since the program started.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com