Fayetteville, N.C.’s Raeford Highway is present process a $147.8M rebuild to deal with site visitors congestion and protection issues. The venture comprises changing a middle lane to an average and growing diminished battle intersections. Paintings at the 6.3 mi. hall started in 2022 and is anticipated to strengthen site visitors float and protection as soon as finished.

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A complete of 5 at-grade intersections with out site visitors lighting alongside the primary section of Raeford Highway are being transformed into diminished battle intersections.
As the house of greater than 392,000 citizens and United States’ army team of workers stationed at Citadel Liberty (previously Citadel Bragg) in its metropolitan space, Fayetteville, N.C., is a colourful, rising town about an hour south of Raleigh alongside Interstate 95.
It is also a the town regularly plagued with site visitors congestion and injuries, and no Fayetteville roadway higher exemplifies that than Raeford Highway/U.S. Freeway 401, an east-west thoroughfare that runs in the course of the town’s west aspect and mechanically sees about 30,000 vehicles and vans touring on it every day.
A 2010 find out about of the hall by means of the North Carolina Division of Transportation (NCDOT) discovered that roughly 78 p.c of Raeford Highway’s crashes passed off between the roadway’s intersections. The general record famous that that statistic “highlights the protection fear of the two-way middle lane and the a large number of driveway openings alongside the direction.”
The company additionally realized that the crash price on Raeford Highway is nearly two times as prime as what can be anticipated on a an identical multilane roadway — 727 crashes consistent with 100 million cars traveled, in comparison to the typical statewide price of 395 injuries for the same direction. Lots of the freeway’s injuries happen as a result of motorists will have to go a number of lanes of site visitors to show left.

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Because of the find out about’s findings, a advice used to be made to transform the roadway’s steady two-way middle lane right into a concrete or landscaped median alongside many of the hall to cut back automobile collisions and strengthen site visitors float, famous Andrew Barksdale, a public members of the family director for NCDOT’s Department 6, which contains the Fayetteville space.
And, to chop down at the site visitors injuries alongside the congested hall, NCDOT made up our minds to reconstruct the street the usage of a discounted battle intersection design that can exchange the open middle flip lanes with a raised median.
By the point paintings in truth started in April 2022, the ones concepts had coalesced right into a three-phase, $147.8 million building venture alongside 6.3 mi. of Raeford Highway.
Highland Paving Co. in Fayetteville used to be decided on because the high contractor.
The preliminary portion of the paintings, or Phase A, stretches 1.125 mi. alongside the hall from Outdated Raeford Highway at the western finish of the venture to east of Bunce Highway, and value $35.7 million.
A freelance will probably be awarded for paintings on Raeford Highway’s Phase B, from Bunce Highway east to Glensford Power, early in 2025, even if the reconstruction design for the intersection of Raeford and Skibo Highway in that section remains to be into consideration, consistent with Barksdale.
He added that Phase C’s building, from Glensford to Robeson Boulevard, is these days slated to start in mid-2026. It’ll come with the addition of a southbound go out ramp from Fayetteville’s north-south All-American Highway for motorists short of to go out west onto Raeford.
The highway’s current southbound off-ramp will proceed for use to go east alongside Raeford Highway, however NCDOT believes the extra ramp will ease congestion in the street close to the highway’s overpass.
“There may be actually no longer an excessive amount of distinction between the 3 levels, excluding that Section A has some median already, while segments B and C all have open-center flip lanes,” he mentioned. “I might be expecting every phase to take two or 3 years to finish, even if a last date shall be introduced at a later time.”
Previous to building beginning on Phase A, Barksdale mentioned that a few of this phase of Raeford Highway had a small, slim grassy median and open ditches on both sides. The brand new rebuilding effort used to be designed to fill within the median with raised concrete and landscaping and upload concrete curb and gutters and drainage buildings.
“Whilst the primary thrust of this venture is to strengthen protection, we additionally need to use this chance to modernize this extremely traveled and essential hall by means of updating the drainage, relocating water and sewer traces out of the roadway itself, repaving it all, and, in some circumstances, including flip lanes or thru lanes,” he defined. “[NCDOT also wants] so as to add pedestrian indicators and marked crosswalks at a number of places, so pedestrians are more secure the usage of it.
“This shall be an entire side road, and punctiliously upgraded, after we are performed.”
Crews Have Been Busy
A complete of 5 at-grade intersections with out site visitors lighting alongside the primary section of Raeford Highway are being transformed into diminished battle intersections, Barksdale famous.
With those fashionable intersection designs, site visitors at the major direction will have the ability to flip proper onto an aspect street. Motorists coming from an aspect side road that need to in the end flip left shall be redirected to first flip proper sooner than making both a U-turn on the subsequent signalized intersection, or in a devoted U-turn lane with a space of additional pavement, referred to as a bulb-out.
A few of the different upgrades that NCDOT and its contractors have made or will construct throughout all of the venture’s footprint come with:
- Including a 3rd shuttle lane westbound between Graham Highway and Outdated Raeford Highway, in addition to a 3rd lane eastbound between Graham Highway and Bunce Highway.
- Setting up sidewalks on each side of Raeford Highway.
- Redesigning the freeway’s T-intersection with Skibo Highway, the place site visitors regularly backs up.
- Putting in pedestrian indicators and crosswalks at 8 intersections.
The primary section of the venture fell 8 months at the back of time table because of an issue brought about by means of a water and sewer line subcontractor, Barksdale defined, however Highland Paving used to be in a position to herald KBS Development from Fremont, N.C., instead, and its crews have worked onerous to deliver the paintings again to complete operation.
“One of the most paintings merely may just no longer continue till the water and sewer traces had been relocated,” he added.
Because of this, the revised finishing touch timeline for Phase A, which used to be scheduled to be completed ultimate fall, is now set for June 2025. Barksdale famous that, lately September 2024, 71 p.c of the venture were finished.
“Lots of the enhancements to the westbound segment of Raeford Highway are whole, minus the general layer of pavement and the everlasting lane markings, which shall be positioned within the spring,” he mentioned.
Towards the anticipated finish of Phase A piece in 2025, street asphalt shall be implemented to Raeford and ultimate pavement markings shall be made.
Other people, Fabrics, Machines
Gabe Shoffner, the state transportation company’s resident engineer on Raeford Highway’s Phase A building, famous that but even so KBS Development, the venture’s different major subcontractors are Newcon Inc., a Rocky Mount company accountable for the concrete paintings; and Fayetteville’s Fulcher Electrical, which is dealing with the road sign installations. They’re amongst a complete of 21 subs working alongside the hall.

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On a weekday in September, Shoffner counted 37 Highland Paving workforce individuals operating onsite alongside Raeford Highway, along side six NCDOT inspectors.
He additionally indexed an excellent amount of fabrics that had been had to improve this rather quick segment of the freeway, together with 60,217 heaps of asphalt; 13,604 linear toes. of waterline; 21,000 linear toes. of typhoon drainpipe; and four,152 cu. yds. of concrete.
Shoffner additionally took cautious be aware of the array of equipment and types available all through a in particular busy day. There have been, in fact, a number of Cat machines, together with a 325, a 330 and a 335 excavator; a M314F wheeled excavator; a 420E backhoe; a 120M2 motor grader; two 924K wheel loaders; a 926M wheel loader; a AP1055F paver; a 5-ton metal wheel curler; and a 13-ton metal wheel curler.
A few of the different apparatus on the process website used to be a Energy Curbers 5700-C curb and gutter system; a Kenilworth tack distributor; two Rosco Challenger six-broom tractors; and one every of the next: a Wacker curler; a Ramex curler; a Hamm curler; two Godwin dewatering pumps (a 4-in. and a 6-in. fashion); and an American Piledriving Apparatus (APE) hydraulic pump with a hammer.
Twelve unload vans additionally had been at the scene, in addition to 4 Ford F-150 pickups; two Ford F-250 software vans; an F-250 with a trailer; an F-350 software truck; an F-350 flatbed truck; 4 GMC pickups; and a Chevy 2500 heavy-duty pickup.
True Professionals At all times To find Answers to Any Problem
When requested about any headaches that NCDOT and the contractors have needed to face up to now within the two years they have got been rebuilding Raeford Highway, Shoffner defined that the principle headache used to be no doubt overcoming the delays brought about by means of the previous water and sewer subcontractor leaving behind the endeavor.

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Past that, although, he mentioned, “Software conflicts had been a significant factor with this venture, particularly if you happen to run right into a battle at night time. That used to be one of the vital the reason why we have now allowed extra daylight lane closures than deliberate. Visitors congestion additionally used to be a problem, particularly when operating across the busy signalized intersections.”
Shoffner additionally famous that heavy storms passed off after brief drainage measures had been put in, inflicting a couple of problems, together with a Raeford Highway failure close to its intersection with Graham Highway that used to be briefly repaired.
As well as, Barksdale mentioned that the development has been a supply of “court cases and questions” since it all started because of the added site visitors congestion and venture delays, in particular round Fayetteville’s 71st Prime Faculty, north of Raeford Highway on the junction with 71st Faculty Highway.
“[NCDOT is] permitting the contractor to have non permanent lane closures within the daylight in small segments right here and there for this present segment beneath building,” he mentioned. “We understand this reasons some inconvenience and delays, however those lane closures no longer handiest offer protection to the employees however let them get this venture finished once conceivable.
“When the whole lot is done, it is going to be a significantly better, more secure street, and with much less congestion, so the brief inconvenience of the lane closures shall be value it ultimately,” Barksdale confident. CEG
Eric Olson
A author and contributing editor for CEG since 2008, Eric Olson has labored within the trade for greater than 40 years.
Olson grew up within the small the town of Lenoir, NC within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the place he started protecting sports activities for the native newspaper at age 18. He persevered to try this for a number of different dailies within the space whilst in school at Appalachian State College. Following his commencement, he moved on to achieve enjoy at two different publications sooner than changing into an actual property and particular options author and editor on the Winston-Salem Magazine for 10 years. Since 1999 he has labored as a company media liaison and freelance author, along with his time at CEG.
He and his spouse, Tara, had been married for 33 years and are the oldsters of 2 grown and a success daughters. His leisure pursuits come with gathering historical past books, looking at his cherished Inexperienced Bay Packers and taking good care of his 3 canines and one cat.