U.S. 117 overpass to be open by November
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 27, 2018 5:50 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A crew works on the O'Berry Road overpass bridge over U.S. 117 South in Dudley Thursday.
The new O'Berry Road overpass over U.S. 117 South at Dudley should be open to traffic around the end of October or the beginning of November.
Traffic that normally would use O'Berry Road is currently being detoured along U.S. 117 Alternate to the east and Durham Lake, Club Knolls and Country Club roads to the west.
At present there are no more scheduled road closures on U.S. 117 to complete the overpass.
The northbound lanes between Country Club Road at Mount Olive and U.S. 117 Alternate, just south of Wayne Memorial Park, were closed from 9 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The southbound lanes between Country Club Road and U.S. 117 Alternate were closed from 9 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Work has been underway since August 2017 on the bridge/overpass.
Work started in January on an interchange at U.S. 117 South and Country Club Road just north of Mount Olive.
Both northbound and southbound U.S. 117 are down to single lanes at Country Club Road, as work crews build up outside ramps.
Since U.S. 117 will be going over Country Club Road, the ramps will be built up first and paved.
"Once the ramps are completed, we will detour traffic onto the ramps while we bring up the fill on U.S. 117," said Joshua C. Sellers, assistant resident engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation Division 4, which includes Wayne County.
"When we get to the point of setting girders for those two bridges, I believe we will close a portion of Country Club. We will know more when we get closer to that point."
Country Club Road is scheduled to be completed next July, but it could go a few months past that depending on how things progress, Sellers said.
The two projects will cost an estimated $20.6 million.
S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson is doing the work.
Both intersections already carry an average of 15,000 vehicles per day, and that number is expected to increase to more than 27,000 per day by 2037, according to DOT data.
Both interchanges are being built to enhance safety and in preparation for U.S. 117 eventually being designated as Interstate 795 in this area, DOT officials said.