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Interstate 85 widening project moving forward
State still deciding on Pitts School Road realignment
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Published: November 1, 2009
Motorists may see delays in the evenings on Interstate 85 beginning Monday and lasting through mid-November as the N.C. Department of Transportation moves ahead with a $230 million project to widen the interstate from Exit 48 to Exit 55 in Cabarrus County.
Crews will temporarily close lanes to take pavement samples over the next two weeks from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The state plans to start acquiring right of way in April 2010, and to start construction on the widening project in December 2011. The project is expected to take three years to complete.
But the big question local residents have been asking is what the state will do about related projects, including the realignment of Pitts School Road, which under the present design would bisect a sixth-generation farm called Barbee Farms. That is still under discussion, according to state officials.
"No decisions have been made as of yet," said Jamille Robbins, a human environment official with the N.C. Department of Transportation, in an e-mail. "We have an internal meeting scheduled for Nov. 18 to discuss all comments received during the public hearing comment period."
State officials said Pitts School Road must be moved because it is too close to the proposed signalized interchange at Poplar Tent Road, Exit 52. The state will restrict access to Poplar Tent Road within 1,000 feet of the proposed interchange, engineers said. The state also has designed a straighter Pitts School Road. The road currently has a sharp curve just before intersecting with Poplar Tent, which engineers say is dangerous for motorists.
More than 20 people spoke in early October at the public hearing on all of the proposed changes related to the I-85 project. Many spoke on behalf of Barbee Farms and asked the state to consider an alternate alignment for Pitts School Road that would not bisect the farm.
The state continued to accept comments from residents through Oct. 15 and also received comments from local government leaders who support using a plan that does not bisect Barbee Farms. Concord City Council voted in mid-October to send a letter to the state supporting Barbee Farms and the second option for Pitts School Road.
Cabarrus County commissioners also voted to send a letter to the state Department of Transportation in support of the Pitts School Road realignment that has the least impact on the farm.
Commissioners said they also wanted the option least damaging to R&R Barbecue, a business that employs about 50 people and sits on Pitts School Road near the Poplar Tent Road intersection. The business will lose visibility from the road when the state moves Pitts School Road. The restaurant owners favor the option that does not bisect Barbee Farms, because the restaurant will retain some visibility from the road.
The county's agricultural advisory board told commissioners that the state's proposed realignment of Pitts School Road takes a larger amount of land out of farm use.
Commissioner Bob Carruth said he supports the alternative that doesn't hurt Barbee Farms, not only because it's good for the community, but also because it's more cost effective.
"It will cost a little bit less for option B (to preserve the farm)," Carruth said in a recent meeting. "Also, we have a very popular restaurant there, and it is the better option for them."
Some of the other issues the state will consider at the Nov. 18 meeting include concerns about the effect on Poplar Tent Road. Part of the I-85 widening project includes turning Poplar Tent Road into a four-lane, divided highway. The change will force Poplar Tent Presbyterian churchgoers to make only right turns into and out of the church. It will not be possible to turn left because of the median dividing the highway, officials said.
As the project moves forward this week, officials said the left northbound lane of I-85 from Exit 48, or Interstate 485, to Exit 55, or N.C. 73, will be closed from 8 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday, weather permitting.
Lane closures will continue nightly from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., moving in sequence from the left northbound lane to the left southbound lane between Exits 48 and 55. The closures will then be shifted from the right northbound lane to the right southbound lane in the same area.
The state Department of Transportation reminds motorists to watch signs for construction information, stay alert and obey the posted speed limit.
Call 511 for free travel information or get travel information online. The state Department of Transportation offers travel information for motorists and ferry passengers on Twitter. For more information on how to get travel information, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel.
• Contact Karen Cimino Wilson: 704-789-9141
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