RALEIGH – Nearly 27 miles of roads in Bertie, Hertford and Northampton counties are earmarked for improvement in the coming months.

N.C Department of Transportation Secretary Gene Conti has awarded a $2.3 million contract to Rose Brothers Paving Co., Inc. of Ahoskie to do the work which can begin immediately and conclude by June 1, 2013.

In Bertie County, crews will resurface 0.6 miles of Church Street from N.C. 308 to Tyler School Road near Roxobel.

In Hertford County, 4.9 miles of N.C. 561 East (Harrellsville Highway) will be resurfaced from U.S. 13 to Thomas Bridge Road.

In addition to those two projects the following secondary roads will also be resurfaced in Hertford County:

2.8 miles of Statesville Road from Boone’s Bridge Road to the Virginia state line;

2.1 miles of Mt. Moriah Road from just south of U.S. 158 to Boones Farm Road;

1.6 miles of Boone’s Bridge Road from Whitley Road to Statesville Road; and

0.8 miles of Catherine Creek Road in Ahoskie from Memorial Drive (U.S. 13) to Martin Luther King Boulevard.

In Northampton County, the following secondary roads will be resurfaced:

3.5 miles of Mt. Carmel Church Road from Bynum Road to Jackson Bypass Road;

3.6 miles of Bryantown Road from Chapel Hill Church Road to the Rich Square city limit;

2.7 miles of Zion Church Road from U.S. 158 to Creeksville Road; and

1.1 miles of Creeksville Road from Zion Church Road to Jenkins Mill Road.

NC DOT officials said resurfacing these sections of roads will improve safety, make travel more efficient and extend the lifespan of the county’s transportation network. It will also enhance the ride quality for motorists.

In another contract awarded to Rose Brothers Paving, $1.4 million will be spent on the following road improvement projects in Bertie County:

1 mile of U.S. 17 (South King Street) from Maple Street to Timber Lane in Windsor;

3.4 miles of N.C. 308 (Cooper Hill Road) from U.S. 17 to the Sutton Creek Bridge;

2.0 miles of Quebec Road from the Hertford County line to Simon Farm Road;

2.2 miles of Jamestown Road from U.S. 17 to N.C. 45;

0.7 miles of Commerce Street from U.S. 13 to the town limits of Powellsville;

1.9 miles of Mitchell Road from U.S. 13 to Hexlena Road;

1.4 miles of Sans Souci Road from N.C. 308 to Woodard Road; and

0.3 miles of Beacon Light Church Road from Grabtown Road to Grabtown Road.

Meanwhile, Barnhill Contracting Company of Tarboro has been awarded a $3 million contract to widen and resurface 0.5 miles of N.C. 46 from the southbound ramp of I-95 to Lebanon Church Road and a 3.6-mile section of Lebanon Church Road from N.C. 46 to N.C. 48 in Garysburg. The latter project, which can begin immediately and is scheduled for completion in February 2012, is part of an effort to improve the road and access to the new Enviva Pellet Mill located in the Northampton County Commerce Park.

The local projects are part of contracts totaling $246.7 million awarded by Conti for highway and bridge improvements across North Carolina. NCDOT awarded the contracts to the lowest bidders, as required by state law. The bids received on the projects awarded came in about 5.9 percent, or $15.4 million, below NCDOT estimates.

Since Gov. Perdue took office in January of 2009, NCDOT has awarded 654 highway contracts totaling $4.5 billion to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to jobs and educational opportunities. Gov. Perdue continues to support immediate jobs in the construction sector and the goal of ensuring that our transportation network facilitates access to jobs, education and healthcare for the future.