Project includes safety improvements to Oddie Road intersection
RALEIGH - Crews
will begin work this winter to improve motorist safety along Stokes Ferry Road
near Salisbury. Replacing the 66-year-old bridge over Church Creek and
improving the intersection at Oddie Road are included in a $2.2 million
contract awarded last month to Dane Construction of Mooresville.
Church Creek Bridge Replacement
The bridge over Church Creek was built in 1946 and has a
sufficiency rating of four out of 100. That does not mean the bridge is unsafe.
It means that it was not built to modern design standards and no longer meets
the needs of today's drivers.
The bridge is narrow and has posted weight limits of 22 tons
for vehicles and 28 tons for large trucks. Replacing the bridge will improve
motorist safety, make travel more efficient and extend the lifespan of the
area's transportation network.
While construction is under way, the existing bridge will
remain open to serve as a detour route for traffic traveling through the work
zone. Once construction is complete and the new bridge is open to traffic,
crews will tear down the old bridge.
Oddie Road Intersection Improvements
Less than 0.5 miles from the Church Creek bridge, Stokes
Ferry Road intersects with Oddie Road.
NCDOT monitored traffic at this intersection from 2004 to
2009, and found a strong pattern of rear end crashes involving vehicles waiting
to turn left from Stokes Ferry Road onto Oddie Road. During the study period,
there were 10 crashes, resulting in one fatality and five injuries.
To reduce the potential for these kinds of accidents, NCDOT
will:
Add a left turn lane on Stokes Ferry Road to
give vehicles a safe place to wait to turn onto Oddie Road; and
Pave the shoulders of the road.
The project also includes cutting down an embankment on the
west side of Oddie Road to make it easier for drivers on Oddie Road to see
traffic approaching the intersection before deciding to turn onto Stokes Ferry
Road. This will also help reduce the potential for crashes between vehicles
traveling in different directions.
Work on the project is scheduled to start as early as Dec.
3, with final completion set for May 14, 2014.
This is one of 14
contracts totaling $100.8 million awarded by Transportation Secretary Gene
Conti in September for highway and bridge projects across North Carolina. NCDOT
awarded the contracts to the lowest bidders, as required by state law. The bids
received on the projects awarded came in about 11.3 percent, or $12.8 million,
below NCDOT estimates.
Since Gov. Bev
Perdue took office in January of 2009, NCDOT has awarded 712 highway contracts
totaling $5 billion to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to jobs and
educational opportunities. Gov. Perdue continues to support immediate jobs in
the construction sector and the goal of ensuring that our transportation
network facilitates access to jobs, education and healthcare for the future.
For real-time travel information in Rowan County at any
time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel
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