The good Lord willing and if the creek don’t rise – again – the bridge on Rogers Road over Smith Creek will open for traffic on Tuesday, Nov. 8. A celebration hosted by the Town of Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce and a number of the merchants who were affected by the bridge closure will celebrate Saturday, Nov. 12, in the parking lot of Heritage Pointe Shoppes (Shuckers) at 3309 Rogers Road.
All area residents are invited to celebrate the bridge reopening and show their support for local business. There will be a variety of activities for children and adults, including face painting, a DJ, live music, special demonstrations, a bounce house and inflatable obstacle course, food and dessert trucks, and much more.
The celebration also includes a special raffle offering local residents the chance to win a cash prize, along with a variety of prizes donated by local merchants. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five for $20 and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The grand prize drawing will be for half of all the money collected. The other half of the proceeds will be donated to Cancer Shucks and Tri-Area Ministry. The grand prize drawing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and raffle ticket holders must be present to win.
For more information about the Rogers Road Bridge Reopening Celebration, including a complete schedule of events and list of participating businesses, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/rogers-road-bridge-reopening-celebration.aspx or contact Nicole Humphrey at 919-435-7500.
The Rogers Road Bridge Replacement Project is part of the N.C. Department of Transportation’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 strategically perform preservation or rehabilitation work when possible.
Contractors are in the process of replacing the existing two-lane bridge with a five-lane bridge and widening from two to five lanes the portion of Rogers Road from Hope Lutheran Church to Forestville Road. Once completed, the project is expected to improve capacity and safety and relieve the bottlenecks that occur in the area during school rush hours.
Another feature of the new bridge is space underneath for the Smith Creek Greenway which will Connect Heritage Middle School to the existing greenway,
For more information about the Rogers Road Bridge Replacement Project, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/rogers-road-bridge.aspx
