The signs are up on Forestville Road warning drivers that the road will be closed Monday, July 6, and will be closed until at least December while Blythe Construction tears down the existing bridge and builds a new one.
The detour uses Rogers Road, South Main Street and Burlington Mills Road, and the Wake Forest Police Department is well aware that the construction will impact local drivers. Police Chief Jeff Leonard says his department has fielded numerous calls from area residents with concerns about the project.
“There is no easy solution,” Leonard said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people are going to be inconvenienced. Still, we’re all in this together. If you live in that area or travel through that area, the best thing you can do is allow yourself extra time and be aware of the assigned detour.
“Our officers will monitor the situation and provide assistance if needed,” he added, “but we can all help one another by planning ahead and giving ourselves extra time.”
The new bridge will have three travel lanes and a sidewalk on the west side (Heritage High side) that will connect to a new sidewalk between Song Sparrow Drive (the entrance to the Thornrose subdivision) and the bridge. There will also be a pedestrian underpass for the Smith and Sanford Creek Greenway. A future greenway will connect to Smith and Sanford Creek Greenway just west of the new bridge over the road. The future greenway will have its own bridge over Sanford Creek and wind up the hill along the high school property and connect to Foundation Drive. At the bottom of the hill a second greenway section will follow the high school property and connect with a wide path built a few years ago to give students in the Thornrose subdivision a safe way to get to school.
The town of Wake Forest requested the third lane, sidewalk and underpass be added the state Department of Transportation’s plan and will pay $350,000 for those.
The Forestville Road bridge is the second bridge replacement project in the area. The first, the bridge over Horse Creek on Purnell Road, is now complete and the road is open.
Work on the West Oak Avenue bridge over Richland Creek is now scheduled to begin in early October and be complete in late May or early June of 2016. The final replacement will be the Rogers Road bridge over Smith Creek scheduled to be done between April and August of 2016. All the dates are tentative until work begins, as readers will recognize from past updates.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has worked with the Town of Wake Forest and the Wake County Public School System to set out detour routes for each project. The town has set up a web page, www.wakeforestnc.gov/operation-bridge-exchange.aspx, to keep residents informed about the four projects it calls Operation Bridge Exchange (OBE).
The replacements are part of a $9.2-million eight bridge design/build contract for Wake County DOT let last year to Blythe Construction. Because of the three Heritage schools on Forestville and Rogers roads, school, town and state officials have all pledged to make the construction detours and other necessary adjustments as painless as possible.
All four local bridges are safe to use but are considered either structurally deficient, functionally obsolete or both and require constant repairs, leading to the decision to replace them.
The Blythe contract is part of DOT’s state-funded Bridge Improvement Program to improve the overall condition of the state’s bridges. The department is investing $810 million over four years to rebuild, preserve or rehabilitate bridges.
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Town staff is waiting to receive and then execute the program agreement with DOT for the right-of-way and construction of the Stadium Drive Complete Streets project. That project and the North Avenue resurfacing project will receive funding to complete the right-of-way and construction. The entire cost is about $4.1 million, and the breakdown is a federal funding match of 80 percent, $3,328,000, and local match of 20 percent,$832,000.
This plan will widen Stadium Drive and add a roundabout at the intersection of Stadium, Wingate Street and North Avenue. North Avenue will also be rebuilt.
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Caddell, an old and not well known street, will be rebuilt this year, and Grandmark, a much-needed new street, will also be completed this year.
Caddell runs only south from Spring Street to Pearce Avenue and is rutted dirt. A Wake County grant of $513,878 for 80 percent of the estimated cost will allow the street to be rebuilt with two lanes, curb, gutter and sidewalks. Construction plans are complete and a meeting with property owners will be held this month to discuss the plans and logistics.
Only 500 feet remain to connect Grandmark from Capcom Avenue to the Grandmark near the ballfields behind The Factory, a connection that can siphon some Capcom Avenue traffic to Rogers Road and a traffic signal for left turns.
Recently the town received a DOT grant of $110,000 toward the $185,000 total to build the street section. There is some money left in the town fund for unpaved roads and an adjoining land owner will contribute $25,000 to make up the total.
Last December the town board approved a contract with Wetherill Engineering to design the short street section. That contract will not be more than $69,059.34.
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Engineers from Summit Design and Engineering Services will soon present a pavement condition survey to the Town of Wake Forest. It will prioritize those streets needing resurfacing and rehabilitation, and it will be used as the town decides which streets will be included in the next street rehabilitation program.
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Town staff is working with the state Department of Transportation on the planned Ligon Mill Road bridge replacement project. Currently the plan is for construction to begin in December 2016, but that will change because of the bridge replacements in 2015 and 2016 on Forestville and Rogers roads.
Town staff is requesting a sidewalk on the east side near the Whippoorwill subdivision and greenway amenities on the north side of Smith Creek as well as a center turn lane.
DOT is reviewing the feasibility and costs for a pedestrian culvert versus an underpass.
