A stimulus start

Construction on one of the region's first stimulus highway projects is scheduled to begin Monday, April 27.

The N.C. Department of Transportation said it will begin widening N.C. 51 from Downs Circle in Pineville to the S.C. state line - an $8.3 million project awarded to Blythe Development.

The one-mile segment of highway will be widened from two lanes to four lanes, with a median in between. Expected completion date: November 2010.

The N.C. 51 widening project was scheduled for construction this spring, but without the stimulus it would have been delayed for lack of funds.