Hopkins gives update on Helene recovery, other NCDOT matters at House Oversight hearing

North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins shared some good news at an NC House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday, as he revealed that a portion of I-40 in Haywood County to Tennessee line will reopen on Saturday.

The road was closed due to damage by Hurricane Helene.

It will be for two-lane traffic only – one lane westbound and one lane eastbound and the speed limit will be 35 miles an hour in the state.

He said NCDOT faces many challenges regarding damage from Helene over the next 5-10 years, but the biggest overall is the storm’s scale. It was the biggest storm since Hurricane Florence in the eastern part of the state in 2018, which caused $250 million in damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reimbursed most of the cost.

Some large corridors, such as US 64, US 74, and I-40 in Haywood County, were completely demolished and will take hundreds of millions of dollars to repair.

Helene is projected to cost NCDOT nearly $5 billion to repair state roads and bridges.

“We have nearly 9400 individual damage sites, and so it’s something of a scale that we have never seen before, and hopefully we’ll never see again, but we’re projecting right now that it could cost us out of state pockets nearly a billion dollars of the match and so that’s where we’re going to need help moving forward,” Hopkins told legislators. “We’ve been blessed that we’ve got a strong cash position right now in the Department of Transportation, so that’s good, but moving forward, we’re gonna need some help if we can’t get any of that money, the rest of that match from others.”

He said he and Democrat Gov. Josh Stein sent a letter to USDOT and others on Monday requesting that they fully fund the repairs, which other states have had success in getting repairs fully funded in the past by the federal government. Otherwise, NCDOT will need help from the General Assembly to pick up the $1 billion tab of the state match.

Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, told Hopkins that everyone thinks he and NCDOT are doing a phenomenal job and that it is difficult to find leaders who unify departments in the state like he has. He asked him to detail NCDOT’s successes over the past five months in the western part of the state.

Hopkins stressed that NCDOT was not alone in doing the work. They have had partners from Florida DOT, 200 employees of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and other volunteers who cleared trees, brought equipment to make repairs, and moved people in and out of the area. They also have over 300 contractors on board and over 60 consulting firms collecting information, doing inspections, etc.

He said that in the first 150 days, they have already spent over $450 million. Of the 9400 damage sites, over 800 bridges were damaged, and over 140 need total replacement. Thirteen of those have been replaced. Also, 41 of 76 large culverts (54%) that were damaged or destroyed have been replaced, and 740 of 800 (90%) other smaller culverts that were damaged were replaced or repaired.

While they have made great strides, NCDOT faces a long road ahead for years to come.

“We haven’t spent 10% of what we estimate it is going to cost, and it’s going to take years to do this, and my biggest fear out of all of this is the next big thing is going to happen,” Hopkins said. “It kind of already did with the wildfires out West, but there’s going to be the next big thing in North Carolina that happens, and it’s going to take our attention off where it needs to be, and it needs to be in western North Carolina. We need to remain focused out there and help them recover. Get those folks back in their homes, get the folks back into businesses, and get the economy built back up because with it built back up, it’s better for all of us, and transportation is a big part of that.”

He also mentioned that they have been successful in using temporary bridges. While NCDOT didn’t have any inventory when the storm hit, Florida DOT did and sent some up, along with workers to help install them. They have also used materials from abandoned railcars to make temporary bridges.

Rep. Maria Cervania, D-Wake, asked Hopkins about the need for rail funding, especially in Wake and Mecklenburg counties.

He said several of the state’s grant projects are on hold now, including the S Line Project between Raleigh and Wake Forest, for which they don’t have a grant agreement. Other agreements on hold include the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and the Alligator River Bridge.

“We sent a separate letter to the (Trump) administration saying how important these grants were to our state, and we would like to have conversations about getting those moving again,” Hopkins said. “I’m going to DC next week to meet with USDOT and have conversations about that.”

Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford, asked him if there was a way to prioritize opening lanes quicker on a highway when there is an accident, as they usually cause major backups.

“We regularly provide training and send our people to training on the dangers of secondary crashes due to those queues or lines of traffic, but the reality is when you’ve got first responders out there and others, the most important thing is to protect that scene and keep those first responders safe,” Hopkins replied.”It’s a good problem to have. We’re in a state where people want to live, they want to come, and vacation, and so our traffic volumes are going up, and unfortunately, our infrastructure can’t keep up with it, so we’re going to continue to see that more and more.”

He added that he uses Google Maps or the Waze mapping system to plan his drive ahead of time.

Committee co-chair and House Majority Leader Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, commended Hopkins for his leadership in the recovery efforts in western North Carolina. However, Hopkins said he couldn’t take credit because DOT employees have been doing the work.

Jones later referenced the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) Commissioner Wayne Goodwin’s announcement Wednesday that he would step down from the position when his term ends. He also appeared at the same hearing on Thursday.

“I think there’s been a cloud lifted,” he said to Hopkins. “It’s going to give you an opportunity to find someone that you feel suited with, being able to make a choice for your next commissioner at this juncture. So, we hope that you pick someone that’s a great fit for North Carolina who understands the DMV process. Someone that’s been in that role, maybe, or has the ability to learn quickly to move us forward.”

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