There will be a lot of noise along Smith Creek in the next couple weeks as Park Construction of NC has to blast through rock – the entire northern Wake County area sits on a bed of granite – to construct the City of Raleigh’s new Smith Creek Interceptor Project, an improved sewer line.
If you live near Heritage Elementary School, Heritage Middle School and Heritage High School you can expect to hear loud noises but should not be alarmed. You will hear the following alerts: a five-minute warning, a series of long horn blasts; a one-minute warning, short horn blasts with pauses; and an all-clear signal, a prolonged horn blast after the area is inspected.
The Smith Creek project will install a new 30-inch sewer line from the Smith Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant to Lagerfeld Road and will also install a 24-inch line from Lagerfeld Road to Heritage Height, and a 16-inch line from Heritage Height to Franklin Street.
The project affects portions of the Town of Wake Forest Greenway System including the Dunn Creek Greenway near Heritage Lake Road and the section of the Smith Creek Greenway from Burlington Mills Road to the Neuse River Bridge.
Signage describing the Dunn Creek Greenway closure is posted at the Smith Creek Soccer Center.
The Smith Creek Greenway, which had been closed since January, reopened last week. Trail users are reminded that parking is no longer permitted along Burlington Mills Road. Any vehicle found parked along Burlington Mills Road may be towed.
The Smith Creek Greenway is part of the 27.5 mile Neuse River Trail. Other trail access points in the Wake Forest area are located at 6100 Thornton Road, Raleigh; 200 Trailhead Lane, Raleigh; and 5956 Myakka Court, Raleigh.
The City of Raleigh scheduled the sewer construction after a study revealed the need for additional flow capacity due to Wake Forest’s considerable growth since its water and sewer system merger with Raleigh in 2005. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2016 at an estimated cost of $7.9 million.
A sister project in the Richland Creek basin is in the pre-construction phase.
