Lin Reynolds has officially stepped in as district engineer of the N.C. Department of Transportation, following five months acting in an interim capacity. He brings with him 23 years of experience on the roads in Sampson and Duplin counties and said he has plans to look out for his hometown counties whenever state dollars are available.

Reynolds took over as acting district engineer this summer, following the departure of Karen Fussell, and now steps into the position on a more permanent basis.

“I’ve been acting at that position for five months now,” said Reynolds. “It’s the same duties, just more administrative-type work and more office duties.”

Reynolds conceded that taking on more paperwork, and more hours inside the office, has contributed to more of a transition because he is accustomed to being out on the roads at all times. He started out in construction with DOT, building bridges and roads and doing surveying work for construction projects.

His knowledge of the district’s roads, and what is needed, is nearly unrivaled, having served as county maintenance engineer for both Duplin and Sampson for the better part of the last decade.

Most recently, Reynolds spent three years as county maintenance engineer in Duplin County from 2001-04. In 2004, he transferred to Sampson to serve in the same capacity for the next five years.

“Both counties are about the same in size,” said Reynolds. “I wanted to get a little closer to home. That was about 25 miles closer to home.”

He held the county maintenance engineer position in Sampson until assuming acting district engineer duties this summer.

“I have 110 people working under me now, where I used to have 55 to 60,” said Reynolds.

Along with having more employees under him, the new district engineer said “the biggest transition” has been learning different procedures that come with the job. But Reynolds is not too proud and attested that he has received assistance from other district engineers in Wilmington and Jacksonville during the transition, and always works closely with his staff in Sampson and Duplin.

“I have a really good group of people to work with,” said Reynolds.

The Sampson native brings with him numerous goals, with continuous attention to road safety among them. That includes pressing projects, plans for which Reynolds wants to have ready when state money arises.

“One of my goals is to be able to administer contracts and proceed with (projects) in a timely manner, and make the roads as safe as we can as quickly as we can,” said Reynolds. “The state’s budget has not allowed us to do too much, but the goal is to have projects on the shelf and have design work ready so, when funds free up, we can go forward with it.”

It is an initiative Fussell worked at before she left.

“I think we can take it to another level, and really increase the number of projects,” Reynolds attested.

That design work and field investigation is necessary in the planning phase of any project, with much more to roadwork than just the surface, Reynolds said.

“It’s not just asphalt we have to consider,” he noted. “There’s a lot of other items to consider when making a road safe, like drainage, subgrade, paving. Having all the data we need through field investigation tells us how much money we need to ask for.”

Reynolds also wants more funds to be sought for Duplin County, which, he said, has been overlooked in the past.

“Duplin County has not received as much money for primary roads,” said Reynolds, noting road deterioration on N.C. 403 and N.C. 41. “Duplin County 403 is in really poor condition. We’re working to get funds for that and have been asking for that every year. Duplin County has not received as much money for primary roads.”

A resurfacing project on N.C. 403 in Sampson County, covering about eight miles from Pine Ridge Road to Interstate 40, and a continuation to a previous resurfacing project on N.C. 403, is expected to be completed in June. Reynolds wants to see Duplin get the same attention.

“Our goal is to get Sampson and Duplin our fair share,” he remarked.

In seeing all roads get a little safer, Reynolds also wants to see more progress on the Pavement Preservation Program, which has preventative maintenance as its goal.

“We want to treat all roads before they get really bad,” he said. “Through this program, we want to get all the way around the county in 10 years.”

That means paving would be done on a 10-year cycle for all state-maintained roads in the county, with 10 percent of roads being done each year. There are already significant strides being made in that area, with rock being placed on 80 miles of road annually where it was 30 miles.

“We’re covering up more roads and clustering them together, which is more cost-effective,” said Reynolds. “My goal is to increase that and get roads in good shape and get them as safe as possible. That is the overall goal.”

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.