SMITHFIELD – To ease congestion and
improve mobility near two schools, the state Department of Transportation will
extend Kellie Drive in Smithfield under a $2.6 million contract awarded last
month.
Workers for Barnhill Contracting Co. will improve the existing dead
end of Kellie Drive off Booker Dairy Road and extend it a half-mile to Buffalo
Road. The project will include sidewalks on both sides of the new, two-lane
road, as well as a traffic signal at the new intersection of Kellie Drive and
Buffalo Road.
“This project will reduce the congestion on Booker Dairy Road,
especially during schools hours, and provide better access to the Neuse Charter
School and Smithfield-Selma Senior High School,” said Ryan Beamer, an NCDOT
resident engineer based in Johnston County.
The contractor can begin work as soon as April 2, and the project
is expected to be completed by spring 2019.
Contact: Andrew Barksdale
919-707-2662
acbarksdale@ncdot.gov