Are outgoing N. Carolina officials speeding projects at home?

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By Mark Johnson | Charlotte Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Board of Transportation is pumping $270 million in road money into Fayetteville, the hometown of Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett and of a key legislative ally, weeks before Tippett leaves office.

The board approved the money for work on a highway loop around Fayetteville during meetings in October and November, as road money has been drying up and cash for projects for other North Carolina cities.

The funding comes in the waning weeks of the terms of Gov. Mike Easley, a Democrat, and Tippett, his appointee. Tippett is also a close friend of Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat who pushed for the loop money.

The move has officials in other cities up in arms.

"I don't know what their personal roles are," Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said, "but I know what the end result is."

Read the full story at CharlotteObserver.com.

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