April 12, 2006

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            Commissioner Margaret Stinnett voiced the frustrations of a lot of town residents last week 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.

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            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 paved the intersection.

            The contract for $21,211,427 was let in late 2003 and work began early in 2004.

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            There is no firm date for the final paving on South Main Street. O’Donnell also the state Department of Transportation is letting contracts for paving projects in northern Wake County which 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.

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            You will be able to experience a roundabout in about a week 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.

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            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).

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            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.

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            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.

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                        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.

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            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.

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            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.