EDENTON - A $472,000 federal grant to the N.C. Department of Transportation will replace an aging culvert over a Chowan County creek, improving fish and wildlife passage through an important eastern North Carolina watershed.
The Federal Highway Administration Aquatic Organism Passage grant will help fund replacement of the culvert over Pembroke Creek on Hickory Fork Road just west of Edenton. Pembroke Creek is part of a watershed that flows into Albemarle Sound, an important habitat for commercial and recreational fishing.
“This is a significant win for Eastern North Carolina,” said NCDOT Senior Project Manager Colin Mellor. “NCDOT is receiving funds to replace an aging culvert while also improving fish passage to the upper reaches of Pembroke Creek which is a very important fish spawning area.”
The grant was one of
59 such awards given to 10 states and 14 tribal governments. The federal grant program is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included more than $2 billion for fish passage investments throughout the country.