GRANITE FALLS — A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation can begin operations this week to build a roundabout at an intersection in Caldwell County to improve safety near two schools.
Pinewood Road, near Bert Huffman Road, will close for up to 75 days while crews from Vannoy & Sons Construction build a new roundabout. Operations will include removing the existing surface, digging out old utility lines, installing new utility lines, raising the grade of the intersection, pouring concrete, and resurfacing the area before final details are added.
All operations should conclude before Granite Falls Elementary and South Caldwell High School students return in the fall.
The new roundabout will increase safety for all drivers in the area. A crash study revealed 66 crashes along Pinewood Road — including nine at the intersection of Bert Huffman Road — in seven years.
NCDOT crash data has shown roundabouts decrease fatal and injury crashes by 76 percent, reduce frontal-impact crashes by 75 percent and total crashes by 46 percent. Additional information may be found on the NCDOT roundabouts page.
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