Lystra Road NOT set to reopen yet after six months of repairs
CHAPEL HILL, NC (WTVD) -- The weather has just not been the friend of the North Carolina DOT as it works to reopen Lystra Church Road in Chatham County after six months of work.
The road was supposed to reopen this Friday, July 8, but the DOT says all the recent rain continues to delay the paving part of the project. They're not sure how long it will be.
The road was closed in January when a sinkhole opened up on a causeway over Jordan Lake. Engineers said underground culverts failed during flooding that pushed lake levels to heights not seen in years.
Several vehicles were damaged when they dropped into the hole.
To fix the problem, workers had to dig out two 60-inch culvert pipes and replace them with 12-foot diameter aluminum pipe.
They also relocated a water main before rebuilding the road itself.
Lystra Road is popular with Triangle-area cyclists who refer to it as "Col de Lystra" because it has one of the steepest/longest hills in the region.
A signed detour already in use remains in place between Farrington Point Road and Jack Bennett Road. If traveling east on Lystra Road, drivers take Jack Bennett Road to Big Woods Road, then go south to U.S. 64 and east to Farrington Point Road and go north back to Lystra Road. From Farrington Point Road, the detour route is reversed.
