Road, Sewer Projects Get Busy

With warmer weather comes road work in Southeastern North Carolina.

The state Department of Transportation and the city of Whiteville will see delays and detours in the coming weeks due to a number of projects.

Madison Street at Caldis in downtown Whiteville will be blocked beginning Friday, city officials said. The intersection will reopen for the weekend, but will be closed again Monday while crews perform maintenance and work on the ongoing wastewater project.

The U.S. 701 superstreet project is causing delays in north Whiteville. Crews began installing the median this week between Flowers-Pridgen Road and Smyrna Road. Flaggers are directing traffic.

The Superstreet project will eventually convert the U.S. 701 Bypass to a limited access four lane with dedicated turning lanes. The project will stretch from Southwood to U.S. 74.

On Monday, Fertilizer Road near the Columbus-Brunswick county border be detoured for several days as state transportation maintenance crews replace a drainage pipe near Neils Eddy Road, in the area of N.C. 87 at Delco.

The pipe will be upsized to improve stormwater drainage. That area saw significant flooding during Hurricane Florence and also during Matthew. The project is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen roadways against future weather events.

The work will start at 8 a.m. Monday. Drivers will be detoured onto N.C. 87 and U.S. 74 to Northwest Road, a distance of about 12 miles.

Two more intersections on U.S. 74 have also been added to the upgrade list.

The crossings with N.C. 72 and N.C. 130 in Robeson County will be merged and roundabouts installed at the new offramps. That work will begin later this year.

The interchange at Boardman in Columbus County is scheduled to be finished by 2024, and Creek Road will be converted to a no access overpass by 2027. The projects are part of the long-term Interstate 74 plan.

Thanks kindly, Jefferson Weaver Managing Editor, columbuscountynews.com News Director, WTXY Radio 910.632.4965