Hilltop Road is moving or at least part of is.
In order to build a bridge over the railroad tracks that cross Hilltop Road at the D.H. Griffin Wrecking Company the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) plans to move the road south.
The official term for building a bridge over railroad tracks is “grade separation.”
Moving the road south which will allow the bridge to be built without having to close the Hilltop Road for as much as two years while the bridge is being constructed.
NCDOT held a public meeting at the Korean United Methodist Church at 2504 Woodlyn Way on Thursday, July 18 to give people the opportunity to see and comment on the route chosen for the new roadway. In November 2018 the NCDOT held a public meeting to present and receive comments on four different proposed routes for the project. The other three routes were eliminated for “design and impact” reasons. Not only is D.H. Griffin to the north, next to that is a large Duke Energy facility.
According to representatives of NCDOT most of the comments they received on the design were favorable. People generally said they didn’t like being held up by trains or even slowing down to cross the tracks. But a few people who were going to lose their homes because of the roadway shift were not pleased and suggested the road be shifted north instead of south.
The project is currently on the schedule for construction to begin in 2021, but the more likely start date is 2023. The right-of-way acquisition is scheduled for 18 months and construction for two years.
The estimated cost of the project is $7.2 million.
