INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS ...continued from p. 1
Ridge,” Cooke said. More than 120 people with differing views crowded Oak Ridge Town Hall Tuesday for a look at NCDOT’s proposals. They scrutinized maps and quizzed engineers and designers from NCDOT and Stewart, the Raleigh-based engineering firm helping the state agency with road improvements in Oak Ridge. A film showing aerial and behindthe-steering-wheel views of driving on roundabouts played repeatedly during the three-hour open house. Many people filled out questionnaires seeking their opinions about possible changes and dropped their answers in a comment box. NCDOT will consider residents’ opinions in deciding how to proceed with the highway work, said Brian Ketner, project engineer in the agency’s Greensboro office. The state plans to acquire property for the project’s right of way beginning April 2020, followed by the start of construction a year later, according to information distributed by NCDOT. The roundabout option would consist of traffic circles at three intersections – at Highways 68 and 150, at 68 and Linville Road near the Bojangles’ fast food restaurant and at 150 and Marketplace Drive near the Sherwin-Williams paint store. Under the second alternate, stoplights would be added at 68 and Linville Road and at 150 and Marketplace Drive. Improvements at 68 and 150 would add pedestrian crosswalks and eliminate the four “slip lanes” that allow drivers to turn right without entering the intersection. As part of both plans, a stoplight would be added at 68 and Marketplace Drive, near McDonald’s. A median would be constructed to prevent motorists from crossing from one side of 68 to the other or turning left onto the
highway, said Doug Taylor, a Stewart vice president. Sentiment for and against roundabouts at Tuesday’s meeting was “pretty much a 50-50 split,” said Ketner, judging by his conversations with residents. Mayor Spencer Sullivan said he favors construction of traffic circles. “Personally, I think it would be a better option for us,” he said, without elaborating. Improving the N.C. 68/150 intersection with new signals and pedestrian crosswalks would require acquiring right of way, including property owned by Oak Ridge Military Academy. Three of the school’s buildings on the south side of N.C. 150 would be torn down as part of those conventional improvements, said Andy Young, manager of transportation design for Stewart. Demolition of those buildings would require approval of state historic preservationists because they’re considered historic properties, Young said. “That is a hurdle and we don’t know whether that hurdle can be jumped,” he said. Pozzo, the Oak Ridge resident, said crossing at roundabouts requires pedestrians “to take your life in your own hands” because traffic is constantly moving. Resident Jim Harton concurred, saying crossing N.C. 68 would qualify “as an Olympic sport for Oak Ridge residents leaping through traffic. I’m really concerned about pedestrians.” “I like the look of roundabouts for the town, but my experience with them has been negative,” said Diane Pearson, an Oak Ridge resident for 15 years. Based on her experience driving on a traffic circle in Kernersville, she said tractor-trailer trucks are sometimes required to wait several minutes for a break in traffic to enter the roundabout, slowing down traffic
...continued on p. 26
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