Governor turns dirt for first stimulus project

Elizabeth City, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue, state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti and elected officials picked up their shovels in Camden County Thursday for the ceremonial groundbreaking on one of North Carolina’s stimulus-funded projects.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $6.1 million to pay for the widening of a congested 2.4-mile stretch of U.S. 158 from east of the Pasquotank River to north of Havenwood Drive in Elizabeth City.

The highway is known locally as the Camden Causeway and serves as the main link between Elizabeth City and Camden and Currituck counties.

RPC Contracting Inc. of Kitty Hawk had the low bid on the project. Sanford Contractors Inc. will conduct the project’s bridgework. The project is forecast to be complete by Aug. 1, 2011.

The U.S. 158 project is one of 11 stimulus projects contracted in March.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, every $1 million spent on transportation creates 30 jobs, and according to the construction industry, every dollar invested in transportation trickles down into the economy six times.