Road work coming to some busy Rowan streets | Transportation

SALISBURY - The N.C. Department of Transportation will close varying lanes of Jake Alexander Boulevard and Julian Road in Salisbury, starting Monday, Aug. 20, to complete widening work and improvements at the intersection. Crews will conduct paving and curb and gutter work, as well as modify traffic signals.

The work is expected to take 2-3 weeks to complete. Weather permitting, the work will begin each day at 8:30 a.m. and end by 4 p.m. The contractor, J.T. Russell and Sons Inc. of Albemarle, can also schedule crews to work overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., if needed. No work will occur during the morning or evening rush hours.

Motorists may experience some congestion in the work zone, so NCDOT encourages them to go slowly, follow construction-related signs and allow plenty of time to reach their destinations safely.

The project includes several improvements at the intersection:

•             The ramp on U.S. 29 will transition into a right turn lane for traffic traveling from Jake Alexander Boulevard onto Julian Road; and

•             Additional lanes will be added for the traffic on Julian Road turning onto Jake Alexander Boulevard or traveling to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.

Not only will the work make travel safer and more efficient for motorists; it will also improve traffic flow through the area when NCDOT closes Klumac Road later this year to elevate it onto a bridge over the railroad tracks. The Julian Road/Jake Alexander Boulevard intersection will be part of the detour route when the bridge project begins.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone and bookmark it for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.