DOT outlines Market Street safety upgrades; town must decide which municipal signals to fund

NC Department of Transportation engineers returned to the Smithfield Town Council on June 1 with detailed plans for a federally funded safety project along Market Street (HS2404V) and a request for municipal decisions on several nearby intersections.

Addison Gayy, division project development engineer for DOT Division 4, said the project will improve pedestrian crossings at signalized intersections, upgrade curb ramps to current ADA standards, install accessible pedestrian signals and retime signals to include a leading pedestrian interval that gives walkers a 2–3 second head start. The design also calls for high-visibility crosswalks and a reconfiguration at US 301 to reduce left-turn backups.

DOT told the council the project will widen travel lanes in places to 11 feet, install a raised concrete island between Front and Second streets to calm traffic entering town, and add emergency vehicle preemption at Market and Fourth to allow fire crews rapid, protected egress from the station.

Gayy said the DOT portion covers Market Street work and will include the first 150–200 feet of side streets that touch Market Street, but municipal signals and most side-street surface work are the town’s responsibility. Federal TAP (Transportation Alternatives Program) funds can cover roughly 80% of curb ramp, sidewalk and crosswalk work, he said, but TAP rules do not allow DOT to fund municipal traffic signals. “We can cover as much as the rules allow,” Gayy said, “but signals at Second & Bridge and Third & East Johnson are municipal assets and any major equipment replacement would fall to the town.”

The council asked several operational questions about traffic rerouting after proposed one-way conversions on Second and Third streets around the courthouse. Gayy said DOT has existing turning-movement counts and will complete a capacity analysis and lane-length calculations to size turn lanes and storage so rerouting does not cause prolonged new backups. He also promised DOT would provide the traffic-count diagrams and model output to the town.

On intersections currently using older town-owned equipment, DOT presented two main options and estimated costs: remove the signal and install an all-way stop (estimated roughly $30,000 at Second & Bridge; $50,000–$55,000 at Third & East Johnson if foundations and metal poles must be removed), or install modern, compliant traffic-signal equipment (estimated roughly $155,000 if compatible mast arms and foundations exist; up to $340,000–$350,000 if new mast arms and deep foundations are required).

Mayor Andy Moore and council members pressed DOT on peak-hour performance and safety. Some councilors said Third Street already experiences afternoon queuing that could extend with rerouting; DOT responded that one-way pairs reduce signal phases, which can increase throughput, but that the capacity analysis will quantify impacts.

DOT said design is underway for most of the corridor and staff hopes to finish an environmental document in August and advertise for construction by year-end. Construction is anticipated to last 6–8 months and will be intermittent; work that directly affects Market Street and the courthouse block will be scheduled at night to limit daytime disruption.

Next steps: DOT asked the council to provide guidance on whether the town prefers to convert certain town signals to all-way stops or to fund modern signal equipment so DOT can finalize the design and provide detailed betterment cost estimates for any municipal work the town would need to fund.