City, State & Local Officials Cut Ribbon on Safe Routes to School Project

You’re invited to a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, May 15th at 9:00 a.m. celebrating the completion of the Safe Routes to School project near H.J. MacDonald Middle School. City of New Bern and North Carolina Department of Transportation officials will be joined by members of the Craven County Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools and Craven County students in recognizing the completion of this important community project. We invite the community to join us in this celebration.

City staff broke ground on this lengthy project that runs through the Colony Estates neighborhood in November 2012. Six months later, Phase I is now complete. The freshly poured sidewalks provide a safe way for children to walk to school and give them an outlet for completing physical activity while having fun; two of the most important goals of the Safe Routes to School program. The sidewalks enhance the community by encouraging walkability and outdoor activity for families and promote mobility and healthier communities. The City hopes to break ground on Phase II of the program soon, which will extend the sidewalks westward across Racetrack Road and connect them to existing sidewalks in adjacent neighborhoods.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs are federally funded by the National Safe Routes to School program through the Federal Highway Administration. SRTS funds can be used for both infrastructure projects and non-infrastructure activities. Thanks to the hard work of a core community group, the City of New Bern was able to identify the most pressing pedestrian needs surrounding our schools and develop a strategic plan for addressing those needs. The City was awarded $99,900 last year by the National Safe Routes to School program to design and implement these community sidewalks. In North Carolina, SRTS funds are administered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). NCDOT has been an integral part in the engineering and collaboration of New Bern’s project. NCDOT continues to work with the City of New Bern to meet pedestrian needs along our roadways.

City of New Bern Lineworkers Bring Home

National Honors

Congratulations to four of our City employees who competed in the 13th Annual Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo and brought home fifth place overall! The team was up against 58 other teams from around the country. Click here for more info and photos!

Future Heritage Park in Downtown New Bern

The Family History Society of Eastern North Carolina is planning to install a Heritage Park on City property right next to City Hall on Pollock Street. This park is intended to celebrate families in the region; from the early times to the present. For more information on the park, visit www.encfamilies.org.

What is New Bern?

The City of New Bern has hired North Star Destination Strategies to help us in our branding effort. Branding is essentially reputation management: it's what people say about you when you're not around. Think of it like this: you probably plan vacations around what people have told you about the places they've visited. Or, you researched your destination and read reviews by people who stayed there, were there on business, or visited there. New Bern is missing a brand that really tells people what we have to offer here. It's much more than a logo or slogan, it's an experience we promise to our citizens & visitors. North Star has created a survey for residents, business owners, visitors - just about anyone! - to gather our thoughts on "What is New Bern?" What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? Where do we have opportunities to grow? We'd like your feedback. Please take this survey, and help us improve upon our wonderful town & the surrounding community...for a better New Bern for all of us!