Blythe Development, the company responsible for every aspect of the 1.8-mile road widening and intersection re-alignment project — a measurement that includes work north and southbound at both of the highway intersections — is on schedule to meet the targeted completion date of Dec. 2, according to company and N.C. Department of Transportation representatives.
“We’ve had a few delays related to some of the work by the utilities companies,” says Blythe Project Manager Kenny Haynes, referring to the required relocation of multiple utility pipelines and cables along the roadways involved, “but we still plan to be finished by Dec. 2.”
Haynes says the entire work zone, stretching from west of U.S. 21 at the Interstate 77northbound onramp to east of N.C. 115 beyond the railroad tracks, was saturated with all varieties of utility service equipment.
“There was gas, cable, telephone and just about every type of utility line you can imagine,” Haynes says of the project area that also includes the U.S. 21 and N.C. 115 intersections. “It took a while to coordinate everything and get each utility company out here to get their work done.”
Haynes says the location of the utilities is the main reason Blythe has taken a somewhat scattered approach to early phases of the road work.
“It probably looked like we were making a quilt,” he says, “but we were moving from one place to another waiting for the utilities to be relocated.”
The “whys” of the project’s progress are not priorities at the moment for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. State DOT representatives are primarily focused on the when.
“As of right now,” Tawana Brooks, DOT’s division construction engineer, says, “the contractor is telling us that they will be finished by the target date.”
And Blythe has good reason to meet that deadline.
“They have until Dec. 2 to finish,” Brooks says, “and after that the DOT can start assessing damages in the amount of $5,000 a day until the project is completed.”
If Blythe is unable to complete the work in the next three months, an extension is possible, but Brooks adds that the specifics of the arrangement related to this project would make an extension unusual.
“Extensions are possible when things happen that are beyond the contractor’s control,” Brooks said, “but since this is a design/build project, they are in charge of everything. They didn’t have to wait on us for anything. The specifications were spelled out in the job description, so they would have to make a pretty good case to be awarded an extension.”
The design/build character of the project means Blythe submitted a bid on the job with the understanding the company would oversee all phases of the project, from the initial drawings of the road work to the installation of signs and traffic lights and the painting of lane and directional markings.
Blythe also imposed the Dec. 2 deadline on itself, cutting almost a full year off DOT’s anticipated completion date of November 2012.
“They set the deadline themselves,” Brooks says, adding that sometimes a commitment to an early completion date can be a factor considered when contracts are awarded.
The project was placed in Blythe’s hands nearly two years ago, in November 2009. It calls for additional traffic lanes along Sam Furr between the two highways and turn lanes at the intersections.
When completed, there will be four lanes of through traffic along with left- and right-hand turn lanes at the Sam Furr/N.C. 115 intersection. At U.S. 21, no left-hand turns will be allowed off of Sam Furr. Drivers who would normally use a left-hand turn maneuver to access U.S. 21 will instead be required to use Holly Point Drive, in the southeast quadrant of the intersection, as a connector, otherwise known as a quadrant-left intersection.
The reason for the no left turn restriction at the intersection, Haynes says, is because of the proximity of U.S. 21 to I-77 and the potential for backups and quick lane change attempts a left turn lane would, and already do, generate so close to the northbound exit ramp.
Original discussions related to the project called for another connector road through the NorthCross shopping center in the northeast quadrant of the intersection. That undertaking would transform an access driveway in NorthCross into a public street, but Huntersville Transportation Planer Bill Coxe said that part of the project has been pushed back.
“That is still part of the overall plan, but it will done sometime in the future,” Coxe says. “The shopping center plans to add that road. It will give the shopping center a different appearance and will be done when market conditions warrant the change.”
As for the rest of the project, Haynes and the Blythe crews are pushing to stay on schedule. Haynes says the crews are working on Saturday and have done some night when lane closures are required because the volume of regular traffic throughout the work zone does not allow for daytime lane closures.
Despite the early setbacks, Haynes is confident Blythe can meet the target date, which would please anxious NorthCross retailers as well as the drivers and potential Christmas shoppers who creep through the work zone each day.
“We’ve got the time we need to complete the project,” he says. “We’ve dealt with some issues, but we can finish on time.”
