Folks have been asking me about the Kildaire Farm Rd. and Harrison Ave. construction projects. Since I am sure many of you also have questions, I wanted to provide y’all with some information on both projects.
First and foremost, I apologize for the inconvenience. Both the Kildaire Farm Rd. and Harrison Ave. closings have indeed been a challenge to say the least.
The Kildaire Farm Rd. construction is one of Cary’s
Intersection Improvements Projects. The purpose of this program is to identify
and help address intersections that experience higher levels of congestion and or
vehicle and pedestrian safety-related concerns.
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| Kildaire Farm Rd Improvement Project |
These improvements will realign and eliminate the current skew motorists' experience as northbound Kildaire Farm Road crosses Walnut Street. This will improve both pedestrian and vehicle safety. It also includes new sidewalks, upgrades to pedestrian signals, crosswalks, and ramps.
In conjunction with the intersection improvements, the town also replaced the aging water mains. The watermains in this area were installed in the 1960s and ‘70s and are at the end of their useful life. As part of the project, they too were replaced with larger diameter pipes that have a lifespan of over 100 years. Approximately 1,200 linear feet of new pipe is being installed to replace the aging mains to eliminate the risk of failure and ensure reliability for decades to come. In Cary we identify and replace aging water mains before they fail. This also keeps us from having to rip up the new road again in the future causing further disruption(s).
The Kildaire Farm Rd. project is getting close to being finished. They are working to install the median within Kildaire this week. No more detours are planned, just some flagging operations. We are shooting to complete the project in late July or very early in August.
The S. Harrison Ave. construction is also part of Cary’s Water Main Replacement Program. They are replacing aging pipe that, like Kildaire Farm Rd., is at end of its life cycle and needs to be replaced and upsized to meet current water supply and fire flow specifications. This project is dual purpose as it replaces aging infrastructure and ensures adequate capacity for future development.
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| Water Main Replacement Program highlights |
This is a much larger project than Kildaire Farm Rd. and as such, will take longer to complete. Beginning in early- to mid-August, they will close the intersection of Dry Ave and S. Harrison so they can set the tee and get the services flipped to the new water main in Dry Ave. S. Harrison Ave will remain closed. They are coordinating with Cary Elementary School and the Cary Arts Center to minimize disruptions as best they can.
By the end of August, all area residents will have been moved to the new water main and S. Harrison between Chatham and Dry will be repaved and reopened.
There will however be intermittent closures of S. Harrison south of Dry Ave. one block at a time over the following several months as they continue to complete the project. The entire project will be complete early 2024.
Yes, doing both at the same time was less than ideal and we will do better in the future.
I hope this helps explain the “why” things are a pain in the rear right now, and again, I thank everyone for their patience. You can learn more about Cary’s Water Main Replacement Program at the link below. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. You can email me at don.frantz@carync.gov or call me on my cell at (919) 612-6870. Thanks again.
