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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.)
There is a new date for the next leg of
the N.C. 98 bypass to
open, but it still may change if there
is bad weather – no one could complain
about rain – or some other holdup.
The state Department of
Transportation has told the town that
the second leg, from South Main Street
to Capital Boulevard, will open to
traffic June 8.
A month before the
contractor, S.T. Wooten will close both
Retail and Galaxy drives on May 8 after
different outlets from Capital Plaza
Shopping Center (Home Depot and Target)
and Lowe’s Home Improvement,
respectively, have been completed.
There will still be minor
work from June 8 until July 7, the
tentative date to complete the project.
The contract for $21,211,427 was let in
late 2003 and work began early in 2004.
If you want to keep abreast
of road projects, you can go to the
town’s web site at
www.wakeforestnc.gov/residents/engineering_
roadandconstructionprojects.aspx.
* * * *
South Main Street
from Capital Boulevard to the N.C. 98
bypass will be paved at some point this
spring and summer. The state has let
contracts for paving projects in
Northern Wake County, and the repaving
of N.C. 98 from Capital
Boulevard to the roundabout under
construction at the seminary is also on
the list. 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. Work on that section is
expected to begin this fall just after
motorists have experienced a short
respite from work zones.
* * * *
The roundabout where South
Main Street meets South Avenue (N.C. 98)
at the seminary should open to allow
traffic to enter, merge and exit without
stop signs this week. There is still
work to be done on the interior circle,
and it will take another 10 weeks to
complete it.
* * * *
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.
* * * *
The 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. |
