Beginning Monday, Dec. 2, a contractor working on behalf of the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will close a portion of Ligon Mill Road between Burlington Mills Road and South Main Street/US 1A. The closure is necessary to allow crews to realign Ligon Mill Road from the existing bridge that spans Smith Creek to the new replacement bridge.
A signed detour will be in place directing motorists to and from South Main Street/US 1A to Capital Boulevard/US 1 to Burlington Mills Road.
Weather permitting, the road is scheduled to reopen in late December.
Built in 1967 to span Smith Creek, the existing bridge needed to be replaced due to the deterioration of some bridge components that could no longer be addressed by maintenance. It was also considered functionally obsolete, meaning that the bridge no longer met the demands of the traffic using it.
NCDOT evaluated options to improve traffic operations while reducing the project’s effect on the community and environment. Ultimately, the new bridge was constructed on new alignment to the east of the existing location while traffic was maintained on the existing alignment.
Construction on the replacement bridge began in January 2023. The following improvements are included as part of the project:
- 200-foot long, 58-foot-wide bridge (roadway width of 47 feet).
- Three 11-foot lanes (two in each direction with a center turn lane).
- Five-foot bike lane in the northbound and southbound directions.
- Five-foot sidewalks along the east side of Ligon Mill Road from the northern project limit to Song Sparrow Drive and on the west side of Ligon Mill Road from the bridge to the southern project limit.
- The roadway elevation of the new bridge will be approximately six feet higher than the existing bridge to accommodate a future Town of Wake Forest greenway underneath.
For more information, contact the NCDOT Resident Engineer’s office at 919-263-6260.
