Motorists using Sunset Avenue from just west of Halifax Road to the intersection with Eastern Avenue and Old Carriage Road should see both ongoing roadwork and construction of a future interchange with Interstate 95 completed by this winter.
Once the new traffic pattern is completely set, all that is going to have to be done is for crews to put down a final layer of asphalt this spring.
That is according to information from N.C. Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Wade Harper in recent interviews and emails.
“When we get done, it’s going to look different and ride totally different,” Harper said.
The improvement of Sunset from just west of Halifax to Eastern and Old Carriage is part of an approximately $63 million overall project by Barnhill Contracting to provide an improved link between Rocky Mount and Nashville and greater local access to I-95, the Maine-to-Miami corridor.
Except for what had been a two-lane bridge over I-95 with no access to and from Sunset, most of the segment of Sunset from just west of Halifax to Eastern and Old Carriage had been three lanes with a center turn lane.
Currently, crews have been constructing a new lane on the north side of Sunset from just west of Halifax toward what is a new bridge over I-95, with the idea being to have two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes on that part of Sunset. The new bridge is temporarily limited to two lanes but is built to have four lanes.
Crews also have built a roundabout on the east side of the bridge and a roundabout on the west side of the bridge, both to serve the future interchange, and both roundabouts are now in service. The roundabout on the west side of the bridge also continues to provide access from Sunset to Freight Drive.
From the roundabout west of the bridge, crews have temporarily shifted Sunset traffic onto pavement on the north side of the avenue so crews can do away with the old two lanes and center turn lane configuration there, with the idea being to have two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes on that part of Sunset.
Part of improving Sunset from the area west of the bridge toward Eastern and Old Carriage also called for replacing the intersection of Sunset and Arrow Road with a roundabout, which has been built and is now in service.
Additionally, the intersection of Sunset, Eastern and Old Carriage is going to remain cross-shaped in appearance but is going to be changed to no longer allow motorists to make left turns.
That is because the transportation department wanted to lessen the impact to three businesses at that intersection — a Hardee’s restaurant, a Sheetz convenience store and a Shell EP Mart convenience store.
More specifically, the planned reconfiguration is going to mean that, in the future, when motorists approach the intersection and want to go to the left, they will need to either go straight or turn right to get to a nearby roundabout and make a U-turn at the roundabout to get to where they want to go.
The plan is for the intersection to be aided by four roundabouts: the new one at Sunset and Arrow; an improved one on Eastern at the south side of Nash Community College’s campus; a new one open on Old Carriage at NCC’s main entrance; and a future one on Old Carriage just south of the intersection with Sunset and Eastern.
Harper said that off Old Carriage south of the intersection with Sunset and Eastern, crews are relocating utility lines. Harper said that when that work is done, then crews are going to be able to start constructing that future roundabout.
The multi-million-dollar project also called for improving a mostly two-lane segment of Eastern from the intersection of Sunset and Old Carriage to the east side of Nashville. That part of the project was completed in January.
Specifically, Eastern is a four-lane superstreet from the roundabout immediately to the south of NCC to an improved multi-lane thoroughfare adjacent to East Pointe Plaza and Nashville Commons.
N.C. Rep. Allen Chesser, R-25th District, was upbeat about the roadwork nearing completion and the improved route’s potential to spur more economic development. The 25th District comprises much of Nash County.
“This has been a project that has been in the planning phases for years — and so I think we’ve got a real opportunity coming, not just in the Rocky Mount-Nashville area, but in the region, to grow,” Chesser said in a recent interview.
Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson was equally upbeat about the completion of the roadwork.
“We’re all getting giddy about it,” Roberson said in a recent interview.
And Roberson linked the road work to the region’s economic development efforts, noting that the projects to improve the area’s roads meant that “We’re open for business.”
Roberson and city leaders have been working to develop 336 acres of city-owned land at a site off Old Carriage and across from NCC’s main entrance. A casino had been proposed at that site before legislators shelved that plan and the city stepped in and acquired the land.
“And we need rooftops,” Roberson pointed out. “That matters. That’s how you build communities — and that’s how you build a middle class and strengthen it.”
City Councilman Lige Daughtridge said he is looking forward to the upcoming completion of the roadwork in the area.
“It’s about time,” he said in an interview. Daughtridge’s ward includes the scene of the roadwork.
Daughtridge also said that he believes the 336 acres of city-owned land is primed for development.
“And we need the jobs. We need the housing,” Daughtridge said.
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