County hears SmartScale roundabout planning; public engagement, right-of-way noted
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Summary
Halifax County staff described preliminary SmartScale sketches for a corridor roundabout, said designs will be adjusted for truck traffic and confirmed some right-of-way acquisition will be required; officials said a March meeting or later STARS hearings will offer public input.
Halifax County officials received an update on a SmartScale corridor project that includes preliminary roundabout sketches and early planning for traffic movements.
Speaker 1 described the materials as preliminary planning sketches, not final design, and said the design phase will account for vehicle types using the corridor. "If the trucks are the predominant movement, we'll make sure that we edit the roundabout configuration accordingly to that truck movement," they said.
A board member asked whether the project will require taking land. Speaker 1 said some right-of-way acquisition is expected and that the right-of-way phase comes after preliminary engineering. On public engagement, the county was told a March meeting could be used as a public hearing; Speaker 1 also said that after projects are scored and funded the state will hold a 6-year improvement plan public hearing in the spring.
County staff also reported a separate '58 study' under the STARS program is examining the intersection through Commerce Lane and that a public hearing on recommended improvements is expected later in the year. Board members raised freight-routing concerns, noting oversized transformers bound for a nearby plant may require alternate routes during delivery.
The board did not take formal action on the corridor at the meeting. Staff said they will return with design details and public-hearing dates as the project moves from planning into engineering.
