 |
May 20, 2006
|
||
 |
|||
 |
|||
|
May 20, 2006
|
||
|
|||
|
|||
| Online Phonebook | Sandhills Guide | Business News | National News |
 |
|
|
BY SARA LINDAU: Staff Writer Twenty-five Southern Pines leaders and property owners attended an N.C. Department of Transportation information workshop Tuesday on a $4.3 million Morganton Road-U.S. 1 Interchange improvement project. The project is slated for construction in 2011 under the current state Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The project would replace the 1950s-era Morganton Road bridge over U.S. 1. The roadway needs to be widened. Several service roads that have poor sight lines flanking both ends of the bridge, including Luther Way and the road running in front of the Days Inn, will be closed off at Morganton for safety purposes. Owners of the JFR Barn Restaurant have objected to closing off Luther Way at Morganton Road. Its customers get to the restaurant from Morganton via Luther Way, according to General Manager Con O'Mahoney. Leaders of Grace Church and Our Saviour Lutheran Church have also raised concerns about closing off Luther Way at Morganton. Both churches have driveways on Luther Way, which gives their members fairly direct access via the Morganton Road corridor that links Pinehurst and Southern Pines. Without that link with Morganton, the churches and restaurant say access will be more difficult and could actually discourage some church members and restaurant customers from coming there. The NCDOT listened to comments and complaints and answered questions during a five-hour workshop in the Southern Pines Town Council Chambers. Maps showing various alternatives were on display. The project is in the early design stages now. The public input will be used to tweak the preliminary design, according to project engineer Drew Joyner, who was available to answer questions. The project is on the "go" side of the TIP priority list, because of the number of accidents there each year and the traffic congestion. At least 26 accidents occur annually, said Richard Helms, NCDOT project development engineer. The bridge needs to be widened and along with other improvements, to better handle the increased traffic, Helms said.
Closing Service Roads The preliminary plan closes a service road from U.S. 1 and a connecting drive from Morganton Road itself west of the bridge to Days Inn. The NCDOT plans call for a new road to connect Morganton with U.S. 1 in a loop configuration around the hotel property. The plan shows a traffic signal where the road would come out on Morganton Road to the rear of the hotel property. Luther Way would be closed off at Morganton Road. The preliminary plan shows a cul de sac on Luther Way near Shaw Avenue. JFR Barn, which has been in business for 32 years, will be jeopardized, O'Mahoney said. If Luther Way is disconnected by blocking Morganton Road access, "our livelihood" will be gone, he said. O'Mahoney said Tuesday he hopes engineers can find a better solution that won't damage his business. "I find it hard to understand that they'd put a stranglehold on a business that's been here 32 years, paying taxes, family-owned and getting its livelihood, raising children and attending local schools and churches," he said. Another possibility discussed would be to keep the Luther Way connection with Morganton Road but make it one-way, southbound. But that would still pose a problem for church members who live to the north, when they leave church to go home. They would be forced to get back to U.S. 1 by several different routes. Grace Church has begun purchasing property adjacent to its building that would allow it to access Murray Hill Road, which connects U.S. 1 and U.S. 15-501. One of the options being considered is extending Luther Way over to Murray Hill Road, which runs from U.S. 1 to U.S. 15-501. Although the preliminary design showed Rothney Avenue, a residential street between JFR Barn and the Lutheran church, to be an alternative route to Luther Way, O'Mahoney brushed that off, as being too difficult for customers to negotiate in finding their way to a major highway.
Aligning U.S. 1 Intersection The preliminary design for the project also includes a proposal by the Southern Pines Town Council to align the Saunders Boulevard/U.S. 1 intersection directly across from Murray Hill Road. Right now, there are two traffic signals close together -- Saunders Boulevard on the east side of U.S. 1 and at Murray Hill Road on the west side of the highway. Other scenarios include creating a signalized intersection of Broad Street and U.S. 1 and possibly Luther Way. Plans also include a couple of new traffic signals at the western and eastern approaches on Morganton Road to the bridge where key access points exist to the Days Inn. An access ramp to U.S. 1 north on Morganton is to be extended and reworked to allow for safer merging into travel lanes on the highway. Making Luther Way a one-way (southbound) road even extended to Murray Hill Road could be a key part of the final design. The NCDOT will hold a public hearing probably in mid-2007 on finalized alternatives and environmental assessments on the projects. Under the proposed timeline, NCDOT will begin acquiring right of way in 2009. Written comments and questions can be sent to Richard Helms, N.C. Department of Transportation-PDEA, 1548 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, 27699-1548. He can be reached at (919) 733-7844, extension 236, or by e-mail at rhelms@dot.state.nc.us.
Sara Lindau can be reached at 693-2473 or by e-mail at slindau@thepilot.com. |
|
|
||
|
|
