Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM AUGUST 21-27, 2019 UCW 9 A North Carolina Department of Trans- portation highway improvement program in Fayetteville will likely affect local traffic for years to come. Planning and devel- opment are underway on a project to replace the center turn lane along Raeford Road with a median. e undertaking will involve more than 6 miles of Raeford Road between Old Raeford Road in West Fayetteville and Robeson Street in the Highland Village area. e nearly $150 million project will result in a roadway resembling Ramsey Street, which was reconstructed several years ago. DOT will reconstruct the road into what's known as a superstreet design by replacing the two-way center turn lane with a raised concrete median or landscaped area. e superstreet design will result in the elimination of numerous cross streets, which will require motorists to turn right and make U-turns at signalized intersections. DOT says the construction will be divided into three segments, beginning at the western end where Raeford Road intersects with Old Raeford Road. e section will include the area eastward to Bunce Road. e second segment of the plan will be from Bunce Road to the combined intersection of Glensford Drive and Hope Mills Road. e final segment will take the project through the in-town commercial district to Robeson Street. Each segment will be funded separately as construction contracts are awarded. DOT said the road's reconstruction will improve traffic flow and pedestrian access. e N.C. Board of Trans- portation is scheduled to fund the first segment in February with construction to begin in the spring of 2020. e state said Raeford Road is one of Fayette- ville's most congested and dangerous routes. According to the Raeford Road Corridor Study's final report in 2010, about 78% of the crashes oc- curred between intersections, a statistic that highlighted DOT's safety concern of the numerous cross street and driveway openings along the route. e Raeford Road corridor has a higher-than-aver- age crash rate because motorists must cross several lanes of traffic to turn left. ere will be 11 directional crossover intersections. Crossovers allow traf- fic on Raeford Road to turn left while preventing side-street traffic from going straight across or making a left turn at the same location. Other improvements to Raeford Road include adding a third travel lane west- bound between Graham Road and Old Raeford Road and adding a third travel lane eastbound between Graham Road and Bunce Road. Sidewalks will be built on both sides of the road. As part of the project, the road's T-intersection with Skibo Road, where traffic often backs up, will be redesigned. A new southbound exit ramp will be built from the All- American Freeway for motorists wanting to go west onto Raeford Road. e freeway's existing southbound off-ramp will continue to be used to head east onto Raeford Road. For more information, this undertaking is listed as Project U-4405 in the N.C. DOT's State Transportation Improvement Program. Raeford Road to see center median construction by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS Planning and development are underway on a project to replace the center turn lane along Raeford Road with a median. (910) 678-8400 Learn more at www.faytechcc.edu or visit with an admissions counselor for assistance! Campus locations: Fayetteville, Spring Lake, Fort Bragg (Training & Education Center) Course work includes: • baking • culinary fundamentals • customer service • garde manger • human resource management • nutrition • purchasing & cost control • sanitation & safety With experience, advance to positions such as Sous-Chef, pastry chef, executive chef, or foodservice manager! Earn an associate of applied science degree in Culinary Arts or choose from a variety of Certificate programs of study: • Baking Certificate • Demi-Chef Certificate • Food Service Fundamentals Certificate • Pantry Chef (Garde Manger) Certificate FTCC Culinary Arts Train to become a culinary professional! The SMART choice for education!