The state Department of Transportation opened the Rogers Road bridge over Smith Creek about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, as promised, but the work on the bridge and the additional lanes of Rogers Road from Hope Lutheran Church to the intersection with Heritage Lake Road/Forestville Road is not complete. Traffic is confined to one lane in each direction – but there is traffic after almost five months.
The two-lane bridge that has been replaced with a five-lane bridge with 5-foot sidewalks and a pedestrian underpass for a section of the Smith Creek greenway was functionally obsolete.
The construction work needed to complete the new bridge and the additional traffic lanes will take a few more months, Bill Crabtree, the town’s communications and public affairs director, said. The work will be done in the closed travel lanes. Drivers are asked to use caution and proceed slowly in the work areas.
Blythe Construction has built the bridge and is widening the road. It is also the contractor that began work today, Nov. 9, to repair the washed-out portion of Rogers Road between Heritage Gates Drive and Hobblebush Way, work that will probably be completed after Thanksgiving.
The washout occurred during Hurricane Matthew when two 60-inch pipes could not contain the rising Sanford Creek waters which rushed over the road, crumbling it.
During the three weeks before the repair is complete, people who use Rogers Road to get to school, work or shopping can use the two or three rather roundabout ways to get to Rolesville from Wake Forest or vice versa. One is to take Jones Dairy Road to Averette Road and then south into Rolesville; a variant is to take Wait Avenue (N.C. 98) to Averette and then south. Or you can take Forestville Road to Burlington Mills Road and then to US 401 to go north to Rolesville. Coming from the south on Capital, take Burlington Mills all way to 401
To celebrate the re-opening of the bridge, the Town of Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce and many of the merchants on either side of the bridge affected by the closure will hold a free community celebration Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – the Bridge Bash – in the parking lot at Heritage Pointe Shoppes at 3309 Rogers Road. There will be a lot of activities for children and adults.
