Scotland County's representative on state Board of Transportation has stepped down after more than 16 years.

G. R. Kindley Jr. notified Gov. Beverly Perdue last week that he planned to resign on Wednesday.

“I spoke last January with you regarding my interest in resigning from the board, at which time you requested that I remain active until a replacement was appointed,” Kindley wrote to Perdue.

“Even though a replacement has not appointed, I feel the need to go forward with my resignation effective July 15, 2009,” he said.

On Friday, Perdue named six new members for the 19-member NCDOT Board to be reviewed by a legislative oversight committee, as required by state ethics laws. Each of 14 divisions in North Carolina has a representative on the board, and there are five special positions as well.

Perdue will also now have to fill Kindley’s seat from Division 8 which includes the counties of Scotland, Richmond, Hoke, Randolph, Chatham, Lee, Moore and Montgomery.

Kindley said he had no idea who Perdue might select for the unpaid position.

His term on the board was a four-year appointment which would have ended in 2011.

“But you still serve at the pleasure of the governor,” he said. “It has been a good ride, but it is time to get off the bus. I have no other reason for leaving other than wanting to have more personal time to do things I want to do.”

He remains semi-retired as president of Southern Builders in Rockingham.

Kindley said his leaving the NCDOT Board would be a break in his public service beginning with being a member of Rockingham City Council for 10 years and later mayor of the city for 20 years.

Although he said he wants more time to himself, he has no plans to completely retire from his business. He said he is not planning on seeking any public office.

“I’m older now (77 on July 28) and just felt like it was the right thing for me to do,” Kindley said,

Kindley was first appointed to the board in 1993 by Gov. James B. Hunt and has been re-appointed ever since by succeeding governors. In 1997, he was named vice chairman.

During his time in office, he has overseen the construction of main highways throughout the division.

The U.S. 74 Bypass in Richmond County is named the G. R. Kindley Freeway in his honor. At the dedication in November 2000, Gov. Hunt presented Kindley the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

During his tenure, the U.S. 220 Bypass of Ellerbe was also initiated and completed as part of the Interstate 73/74 corridor through North Carolina. And, widening is taking place on U. S. 1 north of Marston.

In dedicating the U.S. 74 Bypass in 2000, Gov. Hunt honored Kindley by saying he embodied the motto of the state seal, “To be rather than to seem.”

He said Kindley was “one of the great human beings that God created” and praised him for his “integrity, knowledge and zeal.”