BUNN LEVEL – A Harnett County intersection that has experienced 25 crashes in the last five years will become an all-way stop early next month as an interim safety measure until a roundabout can be designed and constructed.
The change to an all-way at U.S. 401 and Josey Williams Road/Horseshoe Bend Road in the unincorporated Stewarts Creek community is scheduled to be made on Dec. 2. Drivers should expect delays and be alert for flagging operations and workers restriping the area and adding stop signs with red flashers for U.S. 401 until the conversion is completed the same day. The project is weather-dependent.
Currently, drivers on U.S. 401 do not have to stop. Since 2014, there have been 16 angled, or T-boned, crashes by drivers on Josey Williams/Horseshow Bend roads failing to yield to traffic on U.S. 401. Overall, there have been 17 crashes with injuries and one crash that resulted in a fatality.
The all-way pattern will remain until the N.C. Department of Transportation awards a bid in November 2021 to construct a roundabout at the same location.
Roundabouts improve safety because drivers slow down when entering them, and everyone moves in a counter-clock direction. According to an NCDOT study done in 2011, roundabouts reduce fatal and injury crashes by 76 percent.
The roundabout is expected to cost about $1.3 million, including for utility relocations, right-of-way, design and construction. The department plans to award a bid to construct the roundabout in November 2021.
To learn more about roundabouts and see a video on how to use them, visit this NCDOT page.