Commissioners back applying for MPO funds and seek legislative match for East Spencer interchange study

Rowan County commissioners on July 21 authorized staff to submit a discretionary funding request to the Cabarrus‑Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization and to ask state legislators for matching funds to support preliminary engineering for a proposed new interchange near East Spencer. County leaders said the interchange would provide access to hundreds of acres now considered landlocked and could enable development in East Spencer and the surrounding area. The MPO discretionary program requires an 80/20 funding split: staff said the MPO would provide 80 percent and the county would need to identify the 20 percent match. County presenters said the local match could come from Spencer, the county, or state discretionary funds. The board voted to ask Senator Carl Ford and Representative Harry Warren to pursue discretionary match dollars from legislative sources; staff said the estimated local match would be about $821,000. Commissioners noted there are timing constraints on the MPO application — staff cited an early August deadline — and the county must decide quickly whether to proceed. Staff also said the county previously applied for a federal BUILD grant for the interchange but was not selected; East Spencer received a different portion of BUILD funds instead. The motion to approve the memorandum and pursue match funding passed after a second and unanimous voice vote. The county manager and staff will present the application to the MPO and continue coordination with NCDOT, Spencer and state legislators.