Traffic delays slated in city
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on June 21, 2016 1:46 PM
Traffic delays are expected as crews repave several blocks in the downtown area this month.
Sections of John, Walnut and Mulberry streets have been either milled or repaved this week and work will continue during the next 10 days, said Marty Anderson, Goldsboro chief city engineer. The roads will remain open to traffic during the work.
"We're not going to close off any of the streets," Anderson said. "They'll close one side at a time."
The work is part of an addition to an original $478,261 repaving contract awarded to Barnhill Contracting Co. in 2015. Seventeen streets were added to the contract as part of a $270,137 change order, Anderson said.
Several streets have been repaved, including sections of Walnut Street from Lee to Pineview streets. North John Street, from Mulberry to Walnut, was planned for repaving this morning.
Other downtown streets that should be completed soon include Walnut Street from William to Daisy streets, and Mulberry Street from Center to James streets.
No firm schedule has been set but crews are working to complete downtown streets before moving into other areas of the city, Anderson said. The 17 road sections should be finished by July.
"All of these will be done by the end of the month," Anderson said. "There's no specific order. They just wanted to start downtown."
Sections of Pou Street and Hollybrook Avenue have been completed, and crews plan to repave portions of Pineview Avenue, Oleander Avenue and Slocumb, Mulberry, Simmons, Magnolia, John and Holly streets.
The roads planned for repaving were in areas where an earlier $1.3 million sewer rehabilitation project took place. The city council decided to repave the streets, which were patched after sewer repairs were completed, Anderson said.
City staff are also working with the N.C. Department of Transportation to coordinate the addition of a mid-block crosswalk along North John Street. The crosswalk will allow pedestrians to walk from Torero's Mexican Restaurant across the street to the Flying Shamrock.
"There's a lot of foot traffic at nighttime and during the day across there," Anderson said.
The city would pay for the crosswalk, which primarily includes paint striping across the street, Anderson said. The addition of a concrete handicapped ramp is also planned in front of the Flying Shamrock, which will result in the loss of several parking spaces along John Street.