DOT plans moving ahead
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on January 26, 2004 2:01 PM
The N.C. Department of Transportation is planning more than 20 small projects around Wayne County to make roads and intersections safer.
The total value of the "North Carolina Moving Ahead" projects in the county is nearly $4.8 million, although none of the road improvements is expected to cost more than $450,000. Most are budgeted for much less.
"We tried to do as many projects as possible with the amount of money we were given," said DOT District Engineer Tim Little.
The projects include turn lanes on N.C. 111 at Spring Creek High School, a project the county commissioners and school board members had requested to improve safety during school opening and closing times.
The DOT will construct turn lanes at Eastern Wayne Middle School within the next year.
Work has already begun on the "Moving Ahead" projects. For example, the widening and resurfacing of Talton Avenue (State Road 1942) in Mount Olive is under way.
DOT employees are doing some projects themselves, such as minor road widening, Little said. Contracts for larger projects will be let through this spring.
The DOT solicited ideas for road safety projects from city and county governments, he said. The state also looked at narrow secondary roads with high traffic counts and intersections with large number of accidents, he added.
Some proposals were simply too large for the scope of the "Moving Ahead" program and needed to go through other funding processes, Little said.
The first phase of the "Moving Ahead" projects total more than $2.3 million. The state has already acquired right-of-way and settled any environmental concerns.
The DOT expects by this spring to let contracts for or to begin work on these projects:
*Add right- and left-turn lanes on N.C. 111 at Spring Creek High School, which is the intersection with Indian Springs Road.
*Widen New Hope Road to a three-lane curb-and-gutter road between South Harding Drive and U.S. 13.
*Construct a left-turn lane on U.S. 13 at Hood Swamp Road and at Central Heights Road.
*Replace the bridge on Buck Swamp Road over Buck Swamp.
*Extend turn lanes north on N.C. 581 at its intersection with U.S. 70.
*Widen N.C. 581 to include a left-turn lane between Buck Swamp Road and Nor Am Road
*Construct left-turn lanes on N.C. 581 at its intersection with N.C. 222.
*Rebuild and resurface Hood Swamp Road from Mark Edwards Road to about one mile to the west.
*Widen and resurface about a mile of Fedelon Trail (SR 1306) between U.S. 117 and Salem Church Road.
*Build a left-turn lane on Fedelon Trail at U.S. 117.
*Widen and resurface one mile of Talton Avenue near Seven Springs Road.
*Widen and resurface one mile of Hood Swamp Road (SR 1705), from the Greene County line to Rodell Barrow Road (SR 1700).
*Widen and resurface one mile of Langston Road (SR 1556), from Wayne Memorial Drive to U.S. 13.
*Widen and resurface Hare Road (SR 1570) from Wayne Memorial Drive to Ridge Drive (SR 1284).
The second phase includes projects that may still be delayed by right-of-way acquisition, or environmental or funding issues. But the DOT is currently planning on beginning these projects between this summer and June 2005:
*Construct a left-turn lane on Central Heights Road at the driveway into Eastern Wayne Middle School.
*Construct a left-turn lane and install a traffic signal on Royal Avenue at Sunburst Drive.
*Build a left-turn lane on N.C. 581 at its intersection with Westbrook Road (SR 1919), build right- and left-turn lanes on Westbrook Road, and install a traffic signal.
*Construct a turn lane on N.C. 581 at S.R. 1002 and upgrade the existing flashing light.
*Build left-turn lanes on New Hope Road at Millers Chapel Road.
*Widen and resurface Dobbersville Road from Stevens Mill Road to U.S. 13.
*Widen the U.S. 117-Main Street intersection in Pikeville and improve the traffic signal.
*Replace the bridge on Arrington Bridge Road over Sleepy Creek.
*Realign the intersection of Sleepy Creek Road and Mark Edwards Road, including a left-turn lane on Mark Edwards Road.
*Widen a .75-mile section of Old Seven Springs Road (SR 1744), beginning from the Church Street (SR 1947) intersection in Mount Olive.
*Widen and resurface Church Street from Mt. Gillead Road to the end of the curb-and-gutter section.
*Widen and resurface Hines Road (SR 1242) from Rosewood Road to O'Berry Center Road, a section about .8-mile long.