Traffic along one of Mount Airy’s busiest routes is being restricted by a paving project that could take about weeks to complete.
The project, which began this week, is occurring on a stretch of roadway from the intersection of Renfro and Pine streets in front of Reeves Community Center to the Ararat River Bridge on South Main Street near Chase & Charli Restaurant.
It is requiring traffic to be reduced to one lane from time to time while the work is taking place, which is involving the removal of old pavement so a new surface can be applied.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is overseeing the project for the affected section of Renfro/South Main streets which also is known as U.S. 52-Business and N.C. 89.
It is not known for sure when the job will be completed.
“The best information I have,” DOT spokesman David Uchiyama said Thursday, “is a couple of weeks.” Uchiyama, who is assigned to the Western Mountains section of the DOT, said the weather will be a factor, with some work already delayed this week because of rain.
He added that the ongoing project along South Main and Renfro streets is part of a larger paving operation for Surry County.
The affected roadway in Mount Airy is one of 11 different areas across the county targeted for new pavement. It is the last of the 11 to be addressed, according to the DOT.
Nearly 18 miles of roadway are part of a $2.8 million contract awarded for the repaving.
Adams Construction Company of Roanoke, Virginia, is the prime contractor and Carl Rose & Sons of Elkin is performing the work under way in Mount Airy.
The Roanoke company has handled other paving projects locally, including the resurfacing of Rockford Street from U.S. 52 to Graves Street, and U.S. 52 from the area of the Lowe’s hardware shopping center to Carter Street, both in 2015
Uchiyama mentioned that transportation-improvement projects such as the paving work now in progress are occurring across the state as part of a 25-year Vision for Transportation in North Carolina.
The vision plan is aimed at enhancing travel safety and better connecting North Carolinians to job, educational, health-care and recreational opportunities.
Tom Joyce may be reached at 336-415-4693 or on Twitter @Me_Reporter.
