Ten Ten Road plan forcing bike shop to relocate

APEX, NC (WTVD) -- A proposal to widen Ten Ten Road between Apex Peakway in Apex and Kildaire Farm Road in Cary has been met with excitement, per NCDOT officials. However, one business owner will be forced to move.

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"I mean, we need the road," said Zoran Locki, who owns Apex Bike Shop with his wife. "We gotta have it. It's too crowded."

The couple has operated out of their location near the intersection of Apex Peakway and Ten Ten Road for the past five years.

Plans by the NCDOT detail a widening of Ten Ten Road to a four-lane road. The project is also slated to have a sidewalk on one side of the street and a multi-use path or bike lane. The overpass crossing US-1 will also be widened.

Thursday, NCDOT officials held a public meeting outlining their proposal and invited the public to view what's in store and provide feedback.

"We look for a couple of different things," said NCDOT project delivery engineer Michael Kneis.

He said the agency will pay close attention to how many people comment on the plans and will review how realistic it is to accommodate those recommendations.

"Ultimately (Apex and Cary) speak for all the people in the town," Kneis said. "Not just the people that come for the meeting. And we try to accommodate as much of it as we can."

Part of the plan includes the loss of property to property owners who will be directly affected by construction.

Kneis said the NCDOT plans to offer an appraisal and offer fair market value. Owners will be allowed to negotiate.

"But worst case, we get into a condemnation case," Kneis said.

This action falls under the DOT's "right of way acquisition" phase, scheduled to begin in 2021. The DOT has also planned to set aside $10 million for those acquisitions.

Locki's bike shop will be one of those properties. When he spoke to ABC11, he was unaware of what the department plans to offer but said he believes he won't receive enough money.

"I haven't slept very well," Locki laughed. "I've got nowhere to go."

After Money Magazine's 2015 article listing Apex as the best place to live in America, prices in the town skyrocketed.

"We've been looking for (commercial space), but they all start at half a million dollars," Locki said. "When I get the money from this place, I won't have enough money to open up another place. I'll probably go back in debt."

If the timeline goes according to plan, construction for the $54 million project will begin in the spring of 2023 and should be completed sometime in 2026.

To see the full details of the Ten Road widening project, visit the NCDOT's website here: https://ncdot.publicinput.com/tenten_apexcary