Ron Van Cleef, assistant resident engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation, said at 7:30 a.m. that crews had to finish putting down pavement markings before the bypass could open.
“We’re on hold,” he said. “We are hoping to catch a window of opportunity to finish and get it open. If not, it will be a washout. We’re not going to put something out there that is not safe.”
The weather forecast calls for rain today, tonight and tomorrow, which could further delay the opening of the $47 million, 12.5-mile stretch of U.S. 1 between Lee County and Southern Pines.
In addition to the bypass, an existing portion of U.S. 1 has been widened to four lanes into Lee County up to Quail Ridge Golf Club where the highway is already four lanes.
Moore County will finally have a four-lane link all the way to Raleigh and the Research Triangle Park area. The state completed the four-laning of the highway from Sanford to Raleigh several years ago.
This project replaces an existing two-lane blacktop full of twists, turns and traffic slowdowns. It should make the trip to the Triangle area quicker and safer. The new roadway features a wide median and straighter stretches of highway.
The new roadway, starting north of Lakeview with the bypass ends near the Lee County line. The bypass goes through the undeveloped countryside, with controlled access points and 12 bridges.
S.T. Wooten contractors had crews working six days a week from the time the project started in February 2004, then seven days a week for the last three months, Van Cleef said Tuesday.
The contract was awarded in the fall of 2003, but work was delayed because a lawsuit filed by the environmental group MooreForce and a couple of property owners in the bypass area was still pending. A judge ruled in favor of proceeding with the project, which had been on the drawing boards for more than a decade.
Since the work started late, the DOT offered Wooten a $1 million bonus to finish by June 10, in time for traffic to be on the roadway a few days ahead of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst. Ironically, most of the traffic coming to the Open from the Raleigh-Durham area will be diverted onto U.S. 15-501 just south of Sanford to reach one of the two satellite parking lots.
Spectators will take shuttle buses to the main entrance of the championship, at the Pinehurst Harness Track on Morganton Road.
About 45,000 people a day are expected to descend on Pinehurst during the week of the Open, June 13 through 19. Many of the spectators will stay in lodging outside Moore County. Some may use the new bypass.
Van Cleef was traveling along the corridor Tuesday, completing inspections on guardrails. Earlier in the day, he expressed concerns that moisture from recent rains would delay installing the thermoplastic strips with reflectors in them to help people driving at night see the road better.
By mid-afternoon, he said he was confident the final touch-ups could easily be done by this morning to allow traffic to use it.
Asked what would prevent that, he said: “Rain.”
The DOT decided to paint the strips on the roadways to allow them to be open to traffic today and allow more time for the thermoplastic to be put down in more optimum dry conditions. The thermoplastic can be put down while traffic is using the road, he said.
Van Cleef had expected to open one northbound lane to traffic for a quarter of a mile, then open two lanes after that short distance. The southbound traffic was to undergo a similar procedure.
Despite the delay, it still appeared likely that Wooten would collect the bonus.
The actual contract called for completion in September 2005. After the Open is over, contractors will come back and put in grass seed and do some “very minor grading” and mulching along the roadsides, Van Cleef said.
