Gov. Beverly Perdue made another pitch Thursday for federal stimulus money to replace the aging Yadkin River Bridge on I-85.

Perdue and several other Democratic governors met with President Barack Obama at lunchtime at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington as part of a Democratic Governors Association meeting. Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said Perdue specifically raised the issue of the state's application for a stimulus grant to help replace the 50-year-old, narrow bridge about 80 miles northeast of Charlotte.

Perdue was scheduled to fly to Asheville this evening where she has public events tomorrow and the Democratic Party's annual Vance-Aycock dinner on Saturday.

Gene Conti, secretary of the state Department of Transportation, was building bridges this week.

Conti flew to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to meet with members of the state's congressional delegation or their staffs to try to receive federal stimulus money for the Yadkin River Bridge project. The project seeks to replace a 50-year-old bridge on Interstate 85 near Salisbury.

He also participated in an event held by Duke University to recognize five alumni of the university's Sanford School of Public Policy. Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman spoke at the event.

In total, the trip cost the state about $610, including plane tickets, hotel fare and taxi rides.

Correction: Post originally misstated Luger and Kaufman's roles in the event.

Gov. Beverly Perdue will meet with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood on Wednesday to tell him how much the state needs a new bridge over the Yadkin River.

The Interstate 85 bridge, a few miles northeast of Salisbury, is an aging four-lane bridge built in the 1950s, Barb Barrett reports. It would cost an estimated $335 million to replace.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has a $1.5 billion pot of discretionary money to go to special, big-ticket items around the country. States have to apply for funding, and no state could receive more than $300 million under the program’s rules.

Perdue’s push continues work already begun by state transportation leaders. State Secretary of Transportation Gene Conti visited the White House this spring to talk with federal officials about the state’s needs.

While in Washington on Wednesday, Perdue also has meetings planned with Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, and with most of the House delegation.

She plans to talk with them about North Carolina’s ongoing budget crisis, its needs from federal recovery efforts and how the state is spending its money so far.

Done wrong, an earmark can actually hurt North Carolina's roads.

Since 1989, a state law has required that road money be spent around the state according to a strict formula based in part on population.

That means that if an earmark comes through for a specific road, it will just end up displacing money for another road in the same area, said Gene Conti, state secretary of transportation.

"In some cases, it could displace something that is either more important in that area or a piece of a larger project that's needed," he said.

To prevent that, the state Department of Transportation prepares a list of projects that could be earmarked without problem in each Congressional district, he said.

Conti is not a big fan of earmarks, since they tie the state's hands on spending without increasing the overall pot of money. But there are a few he will seek.

More after the jump.

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