ROCKY MOUNT – Drivers will encounter a new traffic pattern starting this week at the intersection of Eastern Avenue/Sunset Avenue and Old Carriage Road.
A state highway contractor that recently completed widening this intersection near Nash Community College is set to implement the final pattern, which will prohibit left turns on all sides of the junction starting Wednesday morning.
With the change, drivers may continue to proceed straight or turn right from any of the four legs at this traffic signal. If their destination would normally take them left, drivers instead will go straight through this intersection and make a U-turn at the next roundabout and travel back to the intersection, and turn right.
The N.C. Department of Transportation has widened Eastern Avenue, Sunset Avenue and North Old Carriage Road into four lanes with a raised median. The project included the construction of several multilane roundabouts on these three roads to improve safety and traffic flow and provide options for drivers to turn around.
When widening this intersection, NCDOT was unable to include left turns without severely impacting the businesses clustered around it. Instead, the department added another roundabout to the south at Morning Glory Way to ease travel through the widened intersection.
The final phase of this project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, when the Sunset Avenue interchange at Interstate 95 is expected to fully open with collector-distributor lanes that also will connect the nearby I-95 junction with U.S. 64. This NCDOT website has more information about this project.