BY MAGGIE BEAMGUARD
Insider Editor
In late winter, heavy machinery rolled in and orange barrels took up semi-permanent residence almost overnight along a seven-mile stretch of N.C. 211 which runs through Seven Lakes and West End.
The project has dominated the attention of residents and business owners, especially those positioned in or near the right of way, since drawings were first submitted for feedback in 2017.
The Greater Seven Lakes Council, composed of the presidents of the three homeowners’ associations, the president of the Business Guild and Moore County Commissioner Nick Picerno invited representatives from the N.C. Department of Transportation and Moore County Public Works to a community meeting on April 28 hosted at Seven Lakes Baptist Church.
Matt Kitchen, an engineer with the local DOT division office, has been the key liaison to the HOAs during the right-of-way acquisitions and the land clearing phase of the project. He was joined by Travis Morgan, the local office’s construction engineer who will spearhead the project going forward. Also at the meeting was also Brian Patnode, director of Moore County Public Works.
The DOT awarded a $42.7 million contract to S.T. Wooten to construct the widened road. The contract has an interim completion of Oct. 1, 2027 for all work with the exception of final plantings and permanent vegetation. The final landscape is estimated for completion by March 2028, a year before the USGA re-stages back-to-back U.S. Open and Women’s Open in Pinehurst.
“Once we let the project, it’s up to the contractor to execute,” said Kitchen. “We give them a start date. We give them a completion date. And how he goes about it, his means and methods are up to him.”
What To Expect
The contractor has started earthwork in earnest on the western end of the project which ends at Holly Grove School Road. Kitchen said what motorists see happening now gives a general idea of what the next three to five months will look like.
Questions about specific areas of construction were raised, including what changes people can expect to see. There will be traffic shifts but residents should not expect to run into road closures or detours.
The look of the stretch of highway will mimic what was completed in 2014 from N.C. 73 east toward Pinehurst. There will be a divided four-lane road with some full-access intersections and several areas with U-turn bulbs. Love Grove Church Road will remain a full access intersection, as will Seven Lakes Drive and N.C. 73.
Traffic patterns will change. Seven Lakes Drive will open into three lanes with a dedicated left-turn lane, a center through-lane and a dedicated right-turn lane. After grabbing a sausage biscuit for breakfast at McDonalds, you will either backtrack through the Seven Lakes business community or you will turn right onto N.C. 211 and use a U-turn area near Dead Man Curve Road to return east.
There will be a left-turn lane to access the U.S. Post Office from N.C. 211, but when you leave the Post Office you will only be able to turn right.
U-turn bulbs, engineers say, are designed to increase efficiency through the whole corridor.
Questions Addressed
Concerns were raised about the potential degradation of the roads through the Seven Lakes business district. Those roads, which include Trade Street and MacDougall Drive, are private roads maintained by the Seven Lakes Business Guild. Traffic could increase through that area as people look for ways to bypass construction. The additional wear and tear is of particular concern to business owners.
Because the business center roads are private roads, the N.C. DOT does not assume any responsibility for them or additional wear and tear that may occur with increased infiltration during construction.
Another prominent concern was about drainage, especially through the business district. Drainage for any project like this is carefully studied. Much of the runoff will continue to flow behind West End Elementary School and Seven Lakes Hardware. It will be improved along Seven Lakes Drive, but the DOT acknowledged this is a tough area.
A question was raised whether the new medians would be planted for beautification with ornamental plantings. Such a responsibility falls back on local municipalities. Since Seven Lakes and West End are unincorporated, a private group may be able to seek an agreement with DOT and post a bond to maintain any such approved plantings.
One resident inquired about considerations for pedestrians and bicycles. Since this is only a highway project, there is no provision for sidewalks, which are found only in municipalities.
Sewer Comes to Town
Patnode, the county public works director, addressed the laying of sewer, which will begin concurrently with the road widening.
He began by acknowledging the topographical challenges the area faces. Seven Lakes sits relatively flat atop a hill with water flowing toward three different basins: Drowning Creek, Deep River and the Cape Fear River. The railroad tracks were built along the ridgeline going down N.C. 211.
Because of gravity, sewage wants to flow downhill, and there is not a lot of downhill for them to work with.
“The goal of the project was to bring sewer to the business district,” Patnode said. The road project provided a good opportunity for public works to piggyback on their construction and to lay sewer pipes.
The plan requires wastewater be pumped down N.C. 211 toward Pinehurst, where it will be collected and sent to Pinebluff to be treated. The county initially plans to supply Grant Street and McDougall Drive with sewer. Following the natural topography of the area directs sewage collection down gravity lines that flow behind the Food Lion and West End Elementary School.
Engineers are working with the school district to locate a pump station behind the school where a wetland area flows. The collected sewage will travel from the station down a 10-inch force main from the pump eastward toward Pinehurst.
There is no plan to extend sewer service to the residential areas of Seven Lakes North, South or West.
The design has been created by the local engineering firm LKC. The county expects the sewer work to finish along the same timeline as the road widening.
Signups for businesses to tie in to the sewer have not been initiated, although the school plans to connect to the new sewer. Hookups will be voluntary and those using the county sewer line will be responsible for connection fees and monthly usage fees.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
