Right of way acquisition slated for first of November 

 

MILL SPRING—A state project to widen Highway 9 from Highway 108 to U.S. 74 is on schedule.  

North Carolina Department of Transportation spokesman David Uchiyama said there were not many public comments regarding the project and the consultant has delivered all the comments.  

“At this time, NCDOT engineers anticipate the design to move forward with very few changes,” Uchiyama said last week.  

The right of way acquisition is slated to start by the first of November.  

A public meeting was held regarding the project’s details in April and residents had until May 7 to voice opinions to the state.  

The project is to widen approximately three miles of Highway 9 with costs estimated at $3.3 million, including lane and shoulder improvements.  

The project is referred to as R-5840 and is on the State Transportation Improvement Project list.  

Construction is scheduled for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 and includes turn lanes, both right and left at Polk Central Elementary School, but not the replacement of the bridge. NCDOT officials said a separate project is scheduled to replace the bridge.  

The proposed project includes increasing the existing lane width and adding wider shoulders to the existing two-lane roadway. The widening will include increasing the current 10-foot lanes to 12 feet and adding six foot wide paved shoulders.  

NCDOT officials said the project will impact 50 properties.  

The 2017 estimated annual average daily traffic for the approximate three-mile section of road was 3,000 vehicles, according to NCDOT figures. There are 10 school buses that travel the road daily, with 38 school bus trips daily and a variety of agricultural and commercial land uses, according to NCDOT figures.  

The NCDOT also said between 2012 and 2017, there were a total of 36 vehicle accidents along the stretch, including 20 with property damage only, 15 with injury and one fatal crash.