DENVER – A traffic signal and other improvements are coming to the intersection of N.C. 16 & Optimist Club Road in Lincoln County.
The N.C. Department of Transportation recently awarded a contract to LMJ Pavement Marking, LLC to signalize the intersection, add new pavement markings and install warning devices to alert motorists traveling on N.C. 16 of the signals ahead. As part of the project, NCDOT will reduce the speed limit from the current 60 mph to 55 mph.
Work can begin as early as April 15 and is estimated to take four months to complete. To minimize traffic impacts, the contractor will not reduce lanes during commuter times, holidays and special events.
Residents and local officials had asked NCDOT to evaluate the safety of this location, which is a
reduced-conflict intersection designed to improve safety and reduce the risk of serious crashes. NCDOT recommended the installation of a traffic signal, in part because significantly more people are traveling through this intersection since N.C. 16 was widened in 2011.
Funding for the $281,796 signalization project is coming primarily from a program called High-Impact/Low Cost, a funding source established in 2017 by the General Assembly to provide funds to complete low-cost projects with high impacts to the transportation system, including intersection improvement projects, minor widening projects and operational improvement projects.
Ultimately, NCDOT plans to construct an interchange at this location under
State Transportation Improvement Project U-6134. Planning and design work is just getting underway for the interchange project, with right-of-way acquisition currently scheduled to begin in 2022 and construction scheduled to follow starting in 2024.