Driver Study:
North Carolina has the second worst drivers in the nation, a study has found. The study from LendingTree was based on auto insurance inquiries this year from January through August. According to the study from LendingTree, there were 48.1 incidents per 1,000 drivers in North Carolina during that period. Only New Jersey had more incidents at 56.9 per 1,000 drivers, according to the study. The study also found North Carolina had the third-highest accident rate at 30.5 per 1,000 drivers. New Jersey again held the top spot at 37.6 accidents per 1,000 drivers and Massachusetts ranked second at 33.5 accidents per 1,000 drivers, according to the study. According to the study, North Carolina is tied with Alaska, Idaho, and Indiana for the seventh-highest DUI rate at 1.7 per 1,000 drivers.
Moody’s Rating:
Moody’s Investors Service, one of the Big 3 in credit rating, on Wednesday reaffirmed North Carolina is one of the strongest states in financial position and gave it the highest Aaa rating. The rating for S&P Global Ratings is AAA, and for Fitch Ratings is AAA, according to each company's publication. S&P released its most recent rating this past Friday. In an emailed statement to The Center Square, first-term Republican state Treasurer Brad Briner said, “North Carolina is consistently recognized for its excellence in fiscal management. Getting an Aaa bond rating may sound like a financial mark meant for experts, but it matters to every North Carolinian. It reflects confidence in how we manage public money and can help the state borrow at lower interest costs. That means more of our tax dollars can go toward the schools, roads and other priorities that support our communities.” The firm said, “The combination of organic revenue growth, large accumulated reserves and low fixed costs give the state substantial capacity to absorb temporary revenue weakness or expenditure overruns without impairing core services.” North Carolina is one of 14 states with a AAA rating from all three major national bond rating agencies – Moody’s Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings.
A new Department of Public Instruction report presented to the State Board of Education on Wednesday pegs the state’s public schools facility needs at $18 billion over the next five years — an increase from the $13 billion price tag from a previous report in 2021.
Each local board of education is required to submit their long-range construction, renovation and maintenance plans to the Department of Public Instruction every five years. Surveys at those intervals have taken place for three decades.
Data for 2,451 existing schools and 88 proposed new schools is included in the report. Renovations are the most pressing need for school systems. The 2025-26 survey indicated an approximate $9.7 billion need for renovations, a 76% increase from 2021.
Seventeen counties have identified construction needs above $100 million. Sampson County leads with $693 million in construction costs currently underway or for planned schools where funding has not been obtained.
Construction costs, which do not include site acquisition, equipment or engineering, have contributed to the increase. A baseline factor cost of $350 per square foot was derived from some of the most recent school construction projects, a $100 increase from the previous report.
“This report highlights, in many ways, the crossroads we find ourselves at, and frankly we’ve been at that crossroads for a few years,” State Board of Education Vice Chair Alan Duncan said last week. “How we respond to that will speak volumes about what we’re saying about the future of our children in this state.”
Two-thirds of public school buildings in the state were constructed more than 30 years ago. Nearly 1,800 buildings, or 29% of the state’s total, are older than 60 years. Seventy-nine school buildings were built more than a century ago.
K-5 elementary schools account for more than a third of the schools where construction are renovation projects are needed. Recent school construction projects are approaching a $450 per square foot cost, Duncan said.
Local governments are responsible for school facility maintenance, although the state has been called on more and more to provide support.
Proceeds from the state lottery go toward school construction. Three capital programs — the Public School Building Capital Fund, the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund and the Public School Repair and Renovation Fund — have contributed over $2.83 billion over the last five years.
The Public School Building Capital Fund distributes $100 million a year, with larger districts receiving a larger percentage of available funds. Each county, regardless of size, receives $500,000 annually from the Repair and Renovation Fund.
Local bonds have authorized $5.88 billion across eight counties since 2021. There have been no state bonds for public schools since a $1.8 billion referendum in 1996 that appropriated funds over the following decade.
“We need to take a real serious look in terms of what our priorities are as a state and we need to work with legislators and among ourselves to come up with the best possible ideas of how we can better advance the issue of having appropriate physical facilities for our students,” Duncan said.
There were 98 new schools completed in North Carolina over the last five years. Eighty-eight new schools are planned across 56 districts over the next five years. They will serve about 65,000 students. Compared to the previous survey, there is a 28% increase in the cost of planned new schools.
The report coincides with data that 105 of the state’s 115 school districts reported a student enrollment decline.
“There is a real issue in terms of where the money is going to come from,” Duncan said. “I’m a very optimistic person, but I don’t see us cutting into that number and I think it’s going to go up a lot more over the next five years. If we’re truly focused on giving a sound public education to our students, that includes a safe and nurturing learning environment.”
Wake County Public Schools alone expect $2 billion in facility needs over the next five years. Last Tuesday, voters approved a $680 million bond for those needs.
Two legislative requests from the state board and the Department of Public Instruction would add $117 million to the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund and increase the appropriation from $50 million to $75 million for the Repair and Renovation Fund.
Neither was addressed in the most recent state budget. Gov. Josh Stein’s 2026-27 budget proposal included $115 million to repair and renovate public school facilities.
Last year, Stein proposed a $4 billion bond for school construction during his State of the State address. The General Assembly did not take it up.
While $18 billion is the identified cost for school facilities until 2031, an additional roughly $14.7 billion is projected for facility needs in the subsequent five years.
The State Board of Education will vote on the report at its December meeting for submission to the General Assembly.
I-77 Center:
State transportation officials have reopened a community engagement center as they move forward with the rebooted Interstate 77 South toll lanes project. The center is on West Morehead Street next to the interstate. That's where it was before the project was derailed for four months. The $4.3 billion project has faced backlash because it would carve into historically Black neighborhoods near uptown. Opponents also argue that toll lanes won't ease traffic on the 11-mile stretch of I-77 from uptown to the South Carolina line — one of North Carolina's most congested highways. Charlotte City Council blocked the project earlier this year before reversing course. But the state has also promised $300 million for parks, grocery stores and other benefits in west Charlotte, as well as a cap over part of the interstate. City Council member Malcolm Graham attended the center’s reopening Friday. "No one’s going to be happy. I’m not happy as a council member," Graham said. "We have to work together to build trust. We have to work to build confidence in the decisions we make along the way, and we have to bring people along — even those who disagree about what we’re doing." On Thursday, Mayor Rob Harrington said he's planning a new Interstate 77 toll lanes working group to guide the spending and make sure the DOT fulfills its promises. The department expects to finish the project sometime in the coming decade.
Ferry Tolls
North Carolina is poised to begin charging tolls on ferries that have been free for decades, including the state’s busiest route between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. The Board of Transportation on Thursday approved new tolls for four coastal ferry routes.
Each car will pay $10 for a one-way trip on the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry and $7 one-way on the Knotts Island and the Neuse and Pamlico river ferries. Trucks and other longer vehicles will pay up to $30 on the Hatteras-Ocracoke crossing and $28 on the others.
A bill signed into law this summer requires NCDOT to begin collecting tolls on those routes Jan. 1.
The board unanimously passed a resolution last month asking the General Assembly to push that day back a few months, saying NCDOT hadn’t had enough time to study the effects of tolls on ridership. But lawmakers haven’t changed the Jan. 1 deadline, and NCDOT’s Ferry Division is preparing to begin collecting tolls as required, director Jed Dixon said Thursday.
The board voted to approve the tolls without dissent. But Tess Judge, who represents the Outer Banks on the board, made another plea for more time. Many coastal residents depend on the ferries the way people in other areas use highways, Judge said, and more time would help the state determine if certain groups should be exempt from tolls.
“I just believe there needs to be more work done to consider the people that live there and use the ferry system for their everyday lives,” she said. “I know that we can always go back and look at it. But it’s going to have a profound impact on a lot of citizens.”
The state will offer a $150 annual ferry pass to permanent residents of 20 North Carolina coastal counties. NCDOT will not change tolls that people already pay to ride ferries across the Cape Fear River between Southport and Fort Fisher and over Pamlico Sound between Ocracoke and both Swan Quarter and Cedar Island.
Lawmakers decided the additional tolls are a fair way to help pay to replace older boats in the state’s fleet of 23 ferries and 11 support vessels. The bill did not specify the rates, leaving that up to NCDOT and the Board of Transportation.
The tolls approved Thursday would generate about $4.4 million in the first year, Dixon told the board last month, not enough to replace a vessel every four years. Dixon said the state would use the next year to determine how tolls affected ridership and whether they could be increased without discouraging too many travelers.
Railroad Funding:
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is receiving more than $35 million in federal funding for a future Western North Carolina rail service. The funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation is for the project’s development, final design and construction. It’s also going toward upgrading highway-rail crossing signal systems between Salisbury and Hickory to improve safety. The NCDOT is working with communities to provide rail service from Salisbury to Asheville — which ended in 1975. Transportation officials say a 2025 study found restoring passenger rail service for western North Carolina would benefit the economy, public transportation and create job opportunities. Once the Western North Carolina rail corridor is complete, officials say it will connect to the Piedmont, Triangle and Charlotte areas.
Bridge Plans:
One of the two alternatives being considered for the replacement of the aging Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is out, and a revised alternative is in. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has considered two options for the bridge replacement. Alternative A would be a bridge with a movable span with a proposed 65-foot to 135-foot vertical clearance over the Cape Fear River. Alternative B would be a fixed-span bridge with a 135-foot vertical clearance. The NCDOT on Nov. 4 announced a revised Alternative B to be considered with unchanged Alternative A. Revised Alternative B would see interchange improvements to address community concerns and minimize impacts to downtown Wilmington and its historic district. In presenting the update to the media at a news conference, NCDOT Division 3 Engineer Trevor Carroll explained that the revised Alternative B would feature a large loop design that maintains access to Third Street. That is unlike the original Alternative B design, which tied in at Fifth Avenue, and is no longer being considered. Carroll said the revised Alternative B, as compared to the original, would minimize human impacts on the New Hanover County side of the bridge. He said parcel impacts would be drastically reduced from 63 to 17, and total potential relocations cut from four to two.