TROY – People can start driving on the new Troy Bypass – a four-lane highway under construction for the past four years – for the first time next week.
The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to open the entire 6.6-mile highway on Aug. 7, as the nearly completed project is entering its final phase of construction. Drivers will encounter lane closures over short stretches on the new bypass while some additional work is completed. In the next few months, the contractor will place the final layer of pavement along the entire bypass, prompting temporary lane closures.
“This was a big project that will significantly improve how people move through Montgomery County,” NCDOT’s Division 8 Engineer Brandon Jones said. “The bypass will remove the heavy truck traffic out of downtown Troy and make Main Street safer and less congested.”
The bypass will become the new route for N.C. 24/27, which currently is a two-lane route going through downtown Troy, a town of about 3,300 residents.
The department needs to close the existing two-lane highway at Glen Road on Wednesday – and shift traffic onto the new bypass – to allow crews to safely tie the bypass to the two-lane route. The closure will last until mid-September. Glen Road is 1.5 miles east of Troy.
The department awarded the $45 million construction project in late 2014 to J.T. Russell & Sons Inc. of Albemarle. The project will improve highway safety and shift heavy truck and pass-through traffic away from downtown.
The bypass, with a 55 mph speed limit, has a divided median and four traffic signals, plus an interchange at Troy Candor Road just outside of town. The department used an innovative design known as a reduced conflict intersection to improve safety and move people on the bypass more quickly. The design redirects drivers from the side roads with traffic signals into going right onto the bypass. If they want to cross it, or travel in the other direction, they would use a dedicated lane to make a safe U-turn a short distance from the traffic signal.