DOT says Havelock bypass to open Friday; US 70 projects to continue through 2028
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Summary
DOT engineers told the Craven County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 15 the Havelock bypass will open this Friday with a community ceremony, but punch-list work and lane closures will continue; the broader US 70/James City work is roughly halfway done with sections expected to finish by 2026–2028.
Jordan Scott, division 2 construction engineer for the Department of Transportation, told the Craven County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 15 that the Havelock bypass will open this Friday with a community ceremony at 10 a.m., though lane closures and remaining work will continue afterward.
The bypass is “about 95% complete,” Scott said, and DOT will open it even as crews finish temperature-dependent items such as final asphalt and markings. He added that the overall construction cost for a major segment of the project is roughly $270,000,000.
The broader US 70 improvements include the James City project, where Wendy Johnson, the project engineer, said DOT is roughly 50% complete. Johnson showed a recent flyover and described progress on noise walls, drainage structures and new service roads adjacent to the route. She highlighted DOT’s use of lightweight cellular concrete — a batch-mixed material placed on-site — to reduce settlement time and lessen truck traffic. “We’re about 50% complete with construction,” Johnson said.
DOT officials described how traffic is being shifted to temporary ramps and service roads as each interchange is finished, with structures on multiple interchanges already in place. Scott said there are eight interchanges between the bypass and New Bern, and noted one interchange configuration where a service road will pass over US 70 rather than the highway passing over the service road.
Commissioners pressed DOT on safety and community impacts after recent crashes near the Carolina Pines area. Scott said DOT monitors accidents in work zones, works with power and emergency services as needed, and will notify residents in advance of planned water-service outages tied to utility work beginning in January. On noise-wall construction, Johnson said progress slowed because some panel manufacturers failed to meet quality standards and crews were prioritizing larger structural work.
DOT gave completion projections for linked projects: substantial elements of the James City segment are expected by mid-2028, while portions of adjacent work may finish in late 2026–2028 as right-of-way and utility conflicts are resolved. Scott said the bypass and parts of the corridor are being built to interstate standards and that posted speed limits will increase to 70 mph on bypass segments, with some stretches remaining at 60 mph through James City.
The DOT team invited commissioners and the public to the bypass opening ceremony and warned that some lane closures and punch-list work will remain through the following summer as crews finish landscaping and other final items.
The board did not take any formal votes related to the DOT presentation; the briefing served as an informational update and scheduling notice for the public ceremony.
