PEMBROKE – Crews contracted through
the N.C. Department of Transportation are closing lanes on stretches of North
Odom Street, which is getting a $5 million makeover to improve pedestrian and
vehicular safety.
For now, the workers have closed only portions of Odom Street – a
main entrance for the UNC Pembroke campus – to one travel lane in each
direction. Later this summer, the entire road between West Third Street and
Cornith Road will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
To minimize travel disruptions, the full lane closures aren’t
scheduled to begin until after the Lumbee Homecoming, which will have activities
from June 29 through July 7.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is adding medians, two
roundabouts, crosswalks and sidewalks to improve the safety of North Odom Street
for students at UNC Pembroke who use it every day. The project will permanently
reduce the five-lane road into one travel lane in each direction.
NCDOT broke
ground in April in a ceremony that included university and Pembroke
officials. The project is scheduled to be finished by fall 2019.
The improvements are in step with a NCDOT goal to promote
multimodal uses of travel and find solutions to improve the safety of
pedestrians and motorists alike. This minute-long video produced by NCDOT shows how the new road will look and
function.