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Q. What's up with the stretch of road between Spring Forest and Sandy Forks on Falls of Neuse?

In front of KFC and the auto care place the road is so rough and bumpy. Especially on the road heading north. I have ruined so many of my gospel CDs, I get really irritated.

We have lived here since 1984, and I'm not sure I remember it ever being resurfaced.

I watched other streets in North Raleigh being resurfaced recently, wondering if they were going to repave Falls of Neuse.

Much to my dismay, they didn't. Why?

Thank you.

-- Peggy Barrett

A. According to Reid Elmore, district engineer for the Department of Transportation, this section of Falls of Neuse has not been repaved because the road is not bad enough to need it.

The DOT assesses pavement conditions on their roads every two years in Wake County.

This entails physically driving on all the roads to check for problems.

The roads are graded for different types of pavement and asphalt failures and are given a priority number which is used to help determine which projects get funded.

Repaving priority is also determined by the volume of traffic on a road and its last asphalt treatment.

Not on the list

Although the section of Falls of Neuse between Interstate 440 and Spring Forest Road was paved within the last two years, the section north of Spring Forest is not on the list for either 2008 or on their three-year list.

"I don't know why [the reader] thinks it is especially rough and bumpy," Elmore said.

Blame it on manholes

While the stretch of road does have one pothole and a few small patches, the main problem appears to be a good number of manhole covers that sit lower than the surface of the road.

Elmore says manhole covers can sink over time, which could be the case on Falls of Neuse. However, the DOT does not own the utilities on their roads.

Manhole covers are owned -- and therefore maintained -- by the city.

Elmore says the DOT receives calls from people complaining about sections of road, and that those requests are considered when the road assessments are performed.

"Just like any other section [of road], it could probably use more attention, but we don't have the money for all the problems," he said.

Elmore said the soonest the road will be considered for repaving is probably four years from now. In the meantime, the DOT will continue to maintain it.