NCDOT Announces Location for Proposed Eastern Rockingham Corridor Study

​RALEIGH - The N.C. Department of Transportation has announced the location of a proposed new route between U.S. 74 Business and Richmond Road in Richmond County.

The proposed project, State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Project No. U-5706, is intended to provide a more direct route between East Broad Avenue and the residential areas to the north, and to reduce area traffic.

A public hearing was held in September 2022, where three alternatives (labeled Alternative 1, Alternative 4, and Alternative 5) were presented to the public for comments.  Alternative 5 was selected as the preferred alternative, which is also known as the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative (LEDPA).

Alternative 5 will provide a direct route for through traffic from the commercial areas along U.S. 74 Business to residential areas in northeast Rockingham.

It includes a combination of existing roadway segments, which will be upgraded to three lanes; and a new location segment, which will be constructed as a two-lane roadway.

Alternative 5 begins at Clemmer Road and ends at the intersection of Old Aberdeen Road and Richmond Road. It follows existing Clemmer Road from U.S. 74 Business to County Home Road, then runs northeast to north of U.S. 1, where it connects to the existing Old Aberdeen Road before ending at Richmond Road.

This alternative will have the least impact on streams and would require the least number of residential and business relocations. In addition, this alternative will have a lower cost than the other project alternatives.  Environmental impacts, impacts on homes and businesses, engineering requirements and public comments were taken into consideration in the selection of this alternative.