Newly installed overhead signs and new traffic lanes means the four-year widening project along Highway 441/Georgia Road is nearing completion.
“We anticipate being complete April 31, 2023,” N.C. Department of Transportation Spokesperson David Uchiyama said last week. “Here is what is left to complete: final pavement markings, signal work, signage along the route, paving at the Lowe’s intersection and punch list items.”
The $15 million widening project covers 1.113 miles of Georgia Road from the U.S. 64 interchange to Wide Horizon Drive/Beldin Circle.
Most recently, paving and the installation of overhanging highway signs has led to the closure of lanes at the Lowe’s intersection at the U.S. 64 entrances and exits.
One ongoing criticism of the project is the lack of reflective markings on the road, which makes it hard to see the lane markers at night. Uchiyama said the contractor placed additional temporary pavement markings and “freshened up” the existing lines the week of Jan. 9-13.
“The final markings will not be installed until March,” Uchiyama stated.
The work has been done by contractor Buchanan and Sons Inc, of Whittier, who won the contract in late 2018. Work started on Feb. 7, 2019.
After completion, Georgia Road drivers will have at least a few years before the next construction project. The NCDOT’s next project along the route will focus on creating left-turn-only areas, bulb outs and more from Wide Horizon Drive/Belden Circle to Prentiss Bridge Road at an estimated cost of $40.5 million. A further proposed project is the construction of a median with designated turn areas on the Georgia Road from Prentiss Bridge Road to the Georgia state line. However, both of those projects currently have no start date listed or funding mechanisms named, according to the 2024-2023 State Transportation Improvement Program’s master list.