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(Road roundup is a standing feature of
the Gazette, designed to keep people
informed about the progress of the
various street and road projects in
town. New projects or updated projects
will appear at the top of each week’s
column in
blue.)
Commissioner Margaret Stinnett voiced
the frustrations of many town residents
Tuesday night when she asked why so many
street projects are underway at one
time. “It’s most inconvenient. You can’t
get anywhere in town.”
Deputy Town Manager Roe
O’Donnell said it had not been planned
that way. The bridge on Stadium Road
over Richland Creek was supposed to have
been replaced last year, he said, but
the N.C. Department of Transportation
postponed the project until this year.
The roundabout where South
Main meets N.C. 98 and the seminary
campus was supposed to be completed in
December but the contractor was delayed
by bad weather.
“We’re a growing town,”
O’Donnell said.
* * * *
The second leg of the
N.C. 98 bypass between South
Main Street and Capital Boulevard will
not be complete until July, O’Donnell
said. Traffic on South Main has been
slowed by the bumps at the bypass
intersection; the contractor, S.T.
Wooten has laid a 2- to 4-inch section
of asphalt across the intersection. On
the other end, the crews are still
constructing the on-off ramps although
traffic signals and signs have been
installed.
The contract for $21,211,427
was let in late 2003 and work began
early in 2004.
* * * *
There is no firm date for
the final paving on South Main
Street. O’Donnell said the state
Department of Transportation will let
contracts for paving projects in
northern Wake County this week and those
contracts will include the South Main
paving and the resurfacing of N.C.
98 (Durham Road) from Capital
Boulevard to the roundabout under
construction at the seminary. These
projects could be done at any time this
spring and summer until winter puts an
end to construction, O’Donnell said.
The contractor will not pave
a portion of South Main between Rogers
Road and Forbes Road because the town
plans to widen that section to five
lanes this year. O’Donnell said work on
that will get underway in September.
* * * *
You will be able to
experience a roundabout in
about two weeks when part of the center
section of the traffic circle at South
Main and the seminary is complete. After
traffic begins circling instead of
making right and left turns, it will
take another 10 weeks to complete the
project.
O’Donnell was asked if there
would be a conservation watering system
for the plants in the middle of the
circle, and he said the town is asking
the contractor to plant
drought-resistant plants.
* * * *
Stadium Drive is closed to
through traffic until the end of August
while Balfour Beatty Construction Inc.
tears down the existing bridge and
builds a new one 40 feet wide. The
contract with the state Department of
Transportation is for $1.1 million.
The DOT web site gives
directions about using Harris Road and
North Main Street as the detour although
another route is Durham Road (N.C. 98).
* * * *
Work has begun on the next section of
the Smith Creek Greenway, this one 1,500
feet from the Smith Creek Soccer Center
to Rogers Road. A 60-foot bridge will
link the new section with the existing
greenway section in the soccer center.
The Smith Creek Greenway,
which will eventually be a 7-mile
corridor from the Franklin County line
to the Neuse River, is the town’s
number-one greenway priority. Along with
the sections described above, there is
an existing paved section that runs
three-fourths of a mile from Burlington
Mills Road to the river. The town has
acquired much of the right-of-way for
other sections through negotiations with
subdivision developers.
* * * *
The North Allen Road
sidewalk is finished, and the street has
been widened and resurfaced. New curb
and gutter has also been added. The
sidewalk provides access to Juniper
Avenue, which has a sidewalk that
extends to Ailey Young Park.
One of the town’s next major
sidewalk projects is one along North
White Street to Flaherty Park.
* * * *
The town is
still drawing plans for the two
roundabouts on South Franklin
Street at Holding Avenue and Elm
Avenue. There will be a public meeting
for comments when the plans are about 70
percent complete.
* * * *
When the N.C. 98
bypass is complete from Jones
Dairy Road to Thompson Mill Road, there
will be nine traffic signals on the
4.8-mile limited-access road.
There will be the set at
Jones Dairy Road and business N.C. 98
(Wait Avenue); a set where Heritage Lake
Road intersects but does not cross the
bypass (and you can already see the
clearing for the road); a set at
Franklin Street but not, perhaps, until
that street is extended into Heritage;
the current signals at South Main
Street; a set at Ligon Mill Road when it
is extended; a set at Capital Boulevard;
and signals in Wakefield, at the
realigned Falls of the Neuse Road, and
at Thompson Mill.
Planning Director Chip
Russell said there is still a question
whether Siena Drive – which has sections
north and south of the bypass already –
will be connected. That could be the
tenth intersection with traffic signals.
* * * *
Also, that traffic signal on
Rogers Road at the
entrance to Heritage Elementary and
Heritage Middle School is still slated
to be installed this spring. Mayor
Vivian Jones and other town
commissioners vigorously lobbied for the
signal, and state Sen. Neal Hunt was
instrumental in getting it approved by
DOT. |
