SALISBURY — Construction crews hope to start work on a roundabout at Sherrills Ford Road and Briggs Road on March 1.
Some utility companies have already began relocating power, phone and gas lines, Department of Transportation assistant district engineer Phillip Craver said Tuesday.
“The work you see going on now is actually the gas lines utility relocation,” Craver said.
Crews hope to complete the contract by June 30, Craver said.
But motorists who frequent the western Rowan intersection outside of peak times could see delays.
Craver said the contract stipulates crews can close lanes, but not between 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday — the busiest times of the day.
The proposed roundabout has been in the works since DOT officials hosted a series of public hearings in 2011. The department approved the change last January.
The traffic circle was pushed through, in part, by Mendee Williams who petitioned extensively for changes at the intersection. Following the death of her son Greg Terry in 2009, Williams wrote letters to the DOT asking for changes of some kind at the intersection where her son died in a vehicle crash.
The traffic circle will be the first roundabout in Rowan County.
Contact reporter Nathan Hardin at 704-797-4246.