By: Charlotte Smith
There has been a lot of talk in Bladen County about the intersection construction at US Hwy 701 and Hwy 87. Our local NCDOT team members are continuing to work hard on the project as well as Barnhill Contracting Company. However concerns have been expressed by citizens of our community and we want to know your opinion.
The construction at the intersection started on March 3rd, 2015 with the prime contractor for the construction being, Barnhill Contracting Company. The contract amount is $13,265,221.98.
The concept W. R. Marsh, PE, NCDOT Whiteville Resident Engineer gave was US 701 will take a new alignment on the eastern side and go under NC 87 Bypass. New bridges will be built for each direction on NC 87 Bypass and down at Brown’s Creek. NC Highway 242 is relocated to the southern side of Sampson-Bladen Oil Company. The old piece of NC Highway 242 remains in place for access to Sampson-Bladen Oil Company and the State Employees Credit Union.
Marsh said, “Everything in my career has always been up and over. Now we are going down and under. It’s not quite a tunnel. To tie in 701 and 87 you will have a loop to get you off of 701 to 87 and a ramp to get you off 87 to 701.”
To help us try to understand what the intersection will be like for those who learn visually, Marsh has given us a drawing of the work to be done at the intersection. He also provided us with a photo of an intersection in Fayetteville that is similar to the one they are building in Elizabethtown.
Photo of an example of a similar interchange in Fayetteville, W. R. Marsh, PE, NCDOT Whiteville Resident Engineer
However, Ron Taylor, Business Owner in Bladen County, said he fears this intersection is going to be the most deadly intersection in Bladen County. “We need traffic lights when the traffic is turning left crossing over on-coming traffic.”
Ron said, “When you are going south on 87, you exit to the right and have to stop at 701, then turn left in front of on-coming traffic from Myrtle Beach and Clarkton at 80 mph to go into Elizabethtown. This is 701-41 truck traffic from Hwy 87. There should be a stop light there.”
He continued explaining,” Going south on 701 you have to turn left in front of on-coming traffic and go towards Big Blue and circle back around to go towards Dublin. There should be a stop light to turn left, or the southbound traffic on 701 should just bear right and merge onto 87 west, towards Dublin.”
So, what do you think? Do we need lights at the intersections? Leave a message on our Guestbook page.
Bladen County NC 87 at US 701 intersection
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