Area road projects expected to get green light

The N.C. Board of Transportation, meeting in Raleigh today, is expected to approve about $8 million worth of projects for New Hanover and Brunswick counties.

The work include widening the intersection of Wrightsville Avenue and Independence Boulevard, resurfacing and patching about 3 miles of Oleander Drive in Wilmington, and replacing a bridge over Jinny's Branch on N.C. 179 in Brunswick County.

Lane closures and traffic delays are expected in those areas when work begins as soon as early September, N.C. Department of Transportation officials said.

For the Wrightsville/Independence intersection work, the lowest of four bids was $3.8 million from Mainline Contracting Inc., of Durham.

The work will be done over a half-mile stretch of Wrightsville Avenue, roughly from just west of Princeton Drive to Wilshire Boulevard. The DOT will add another through lane in both directions on Wrightsville, as well as install new sidewalks.

The project is intended to increase traffic capacity and improve safety in the area of the Wrightsville/Independence intersection, where backups and crashes are common.

"It's just widening and trying to get traffic through there quicker," said Mark Blalock, DOT assistant resident engineer.

To make room for the improvements, the DOT spent more than $950,000 to acquire 26 properties, three of which had to be acquired by eminent domain after the DOT and property owners couldn't agree on a purchase price.

Among the condemned properties was Pete Jarrell's on Forest Hills Drive, which borders the busy intersection.

Jarrell said he is losing about 4,000 square feet of land and 70 trees and plants around his house, as well as part of an existing sound barrier between the back of his house and the intersection. He said the $64,175 the DOT offered him isn't nearly enough to build a new wall.

"I have no protection, no visual protection, no sound protection," he said. "They're trying to steal my property."

Hugh Thompson, DOT right of way agent, said he couldn't comment about whether the price was high enough, but said it was the full amount of a DOT appraisal.

Jarrell also said he doesn't believe the project will help the traffic situation.

He sees future problems on Wrightsville Avenue near Wilshire Boulevard, where two lanes of traffic will have to merge back into one.

"I think it'll cause backups. I think it'll cause accidents," he said. "You know how people in this city drive."

Jarrell alsoquestioned whether other roadwork in the Wilmington area should be higher on the priority list.

Mike Kozlosky, senior transportation planner with the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization, said it's a much-need project that will increase capacity and reduce delays there.

"It is a funded project and ready to go out the door," he said.

Another so-called 'suicide' lane

The state will also consider a contract to resurface a 3-mile stretch of Oleander Drive in Wilmington from roughly Dawson Street to Pine Grove Drive.S.T. Wooten Corp., of Wilson, submitted the low bid a more than $1.5 million.

The project involves resurfacing Oleander from the intersection of Dawson to just east of 42nd Street, and patching areas from 42nd to Pine Grove.

The DOT also will remove on-street parking stalls and add a center turn lane, or "suicide" lane, for most of Oleander west of Independence Boulevard.

Most of the Oleander work will be done at night, Cross said. Lane closures on Oleander will only be allowed after 7 p.m. and before 7 a.m. Work is set to begin next month, with completion expected in May.

The DOT also plans to replace the bridge over Jinny's Branch on N.C. 179 south of Shallotte in Brunswick County.

The lowest of seven bids, about $2.4 million, came from The Tara Group of Lumberton.

The state deems the bridge, built in 1967, structurally deficient, and heavy trucks are prohibited from the crossing.

Contractors will have to close N.C. 179 at the bridge for that work, which expected to begin in September and end in May. Hale Swamp Road will serve as the main detour route, according to DOT plans.

Patrick Gannon: 343-2328

patrick.gannon@starnewsonline.com