Shovels hit the ground Wednesday to widen Holly Springs Road from Flint Point Lane to Sunset Lake Road.
The town has been planning the road upgrade for years -- the $37.2 million project is among the ones approved back in 2018. It's specifically designed to help handle the increase in traffic expected when the 540 project is completed.
Holly Springs Road is just two lanes between Flint Point Lake and Sunset Lake Road.
The road is widening to four lanes with an eight-foot-wide sidewalk and a new double-lane roundabout. There will be pedestrian and bicycle routes near Holly Ridge Elementary and Middle schools.
Mayor Sean Mayefskie said the improvements will also help with the safety of nearby residents
"Used to have to park fire trucks and ambulances in any big rain storms on the other side, same thing with police cars so that we could service our residents on the other side of the bridge, so with the new bridge, we won't have to do that anymore," Mayefskie said.
Kendra Parrish, the director of infrastructure for the town, said they are trying to be proactive with the anticipated amount of people expected to drive through and move to their town in the coming years
"The reality (is) Holly Springs is growing, and we need to be ahead of the curve," Parrish said. "Not only are we doing this road-widening project, we're also looking at the Northeast Gateway, and with the opening of 540, the whole dynamic of the area is changing, and so we are also embarking upon a study to look at what that vision looks like, and how we can accommodate the dynamic growth in Holly Springs."
Construction delays are not expected until later in 2022. The project will likely take around three years to complete.
To keep up with the latest traffic delays related to this project, you can visit this website.