Updated 01/12/2010 12:56 PM
Crews ahead of schedule on Hillsborough St. roundabouts
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story mistakenly identified the Oberlin Road bar and grill Player's Retreat as Playmaker's Tavern.
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RALEIGH – N.C. State students returning to classes Monday might have to take a new route to get there. Construction crews working on the nearly $10 million Hillsborough Street roundabout project are ahead of schedule.
“I think it might take a while for everybody to get used to it,” said Jimmy Batts as he walked along Hillsborough Street. “It seems right now, the way I see traffic moving and [crews] are doing the work at the same time, [traffic] is moving pretty good.”
A new roundabout now replaces the old intersection of Hillsborough Street and Pullen Road in front of the N.C. State bell tower.
“We're about 60 percent complete, about two months ahead of schedule,” said Tim Sudano, the project manager for the city of Raleigh.
Crews also changed the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Oberlin Road, turning the section of Oberlin near Player's Retreat into a one-way street. Drivers can no longer turn left from Hillsborough onto Oberlin. Instead, drivers will have to go through the roundabout at Hillsborough Street, onto the new Pullen Road extension, and through a second new roundabout at Oberlin and Pullen.
When you factor in the roundabout at Pullen and Stinson Drive on the N.C. State campus, there are now three roundabouts within a quarter of a mile of each other.
“The whole corridor is going to look a lot better, and I think without the traffic lights stopping people, it'll run smoother and handle the traffic well,” Sudano said.
While the project is still under construction, the Hillsborough Street roundabout is just one lane. But once the project is completed, it will have two lanes going around.
“I think it'll improve traffic,” Batts said.
Crews say the Hillsborough Street roundabout project could be complete as early as June, three months ahead of schedule.