03/29/2024
NC DOT
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Selection would avoid impacting downtown businesses

NC DOTANGIER – The N.C. Department of Transportation has selected an alternative for improving nearly 11.5 miles of N.C. 55 in Harnett and Wake counties.

The department proposes widening the two-lane highway into four lanes with a raised median along portions of the existing corridor and along a new route that would go around the west side of Angier in Harnett County. The project is aimed at improving safety and reducing congestion along the highway.

Engineers and planners in the department made the selection after reviewing more than 200 comments about the project from last year’s open house, as well as analyzing the projected traffic volumes and reviewing both environmental and human impacts on the alternatives.

The selected alternative was marked “Corridor B” on maps at last year’s public meeting. The selected N.C. 55 route would begin just south of Oak Grove Church Road and follow the existing highway north to approximately Ennis Road. From there, the highway would go onto a new location just west of downtown Angier. It would rejoin N.C. 55 near the Wake/Harnett County line, then follow the existing road north to the intersection with N.C. 42.

Alternative B will avoid impacting businesses through downtown Angier, where on average 19,000 vehicles pass through the corridor each day. If nothing is built, according to traffic projections, the daily volume will grow to almost 30,000 vehicles by 2040 within the downtown area.

The department will hold another public meeting this fall with preliminary maps showing the selected alternative.

At this time, funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction is available only for the portion between just south of Oak Grove Church Road and Jicarilla Lane in Wake County. Land acquisition is scheduled for 2020, followed by the start of construction two years later.

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