City unveils plans for Triangle Lake Road project

Pat Kimbrough, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

May 16—HIGH POINT — A road project that's been on the city's to-do list for nearly 20 years is finally taking shape.

Engineering consultants recently unveiled a preliminary design for improvements to Triangle Lake Road from E. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Hickory Chapel Road.

The plan is to widen the road and add sidewalks and bicycle lanes. There isn't a lot of traffic, but crashes have long been a problem because of safety hazards, such as steep shoulders close to the road and no sidewalks, as well as limited sight distances for drivers, according to the city.

City transportation staff originally proposed including the project in the 2004 general obligation bond package, but it did not make the cut. It was included in the 2019 bond package, which allocated $12 million for it.

"We hope to begin right-of-way acquisition as early as 2022, potentially in 2023 as well," said Colin Frosch with Kimley-Horn, the engineering firm designing the project for the city. "Due to the number of parcels along this corridor, we expect right of way could take one to two years, so we're looking at starting construction somewhere between 2023 and 2025."

The widening would impact some of the residents' properties along the road, but officials don't expect any relocations will be necessary, he said.

The concept Frosch presented shows the western segment of the road from Hickory Chapel Road to Oakcrest Avenue would be widened to two-way, 11-foot travel lanes, with five-foot bicycle lanes and sidewalks, as well as curb and gutter.

The section from Oakcrest Avenue to E. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive would get the same features, but instead of its current four-lane configuration, it would be converted to two lanes of travel with a middle lane for left turns.

The Hickory Chapel and Baker road intersections would be converted to roundabouts and the bus stop near Williams Memorial CME Church would be improved.

An online public meeting on the project is planned for next week. The feedback will be taken into account by the consultants, who will start work on a final design later this year, according to the city.