Spring is here and that means pollen, time to plant gardens and farms and even more road work.
No. 1
Continued success for Share the Harvest Community Farm. The lettuce and onions are growing at the Share the Harvest Farm at McGill Baptist Church in Concord. Plastic and irrigation are down and ready for more planting.
The Farm is a joint project between the church, the Rowan-Cabarrus YMCA, Cooperative Christian Ministries and other community partners.
“We really couldn’t have found a better use for this piece of land,” said Dr. Steve Ayers, McGill pastor. “It is really helping us make a difference for people in need.”
The plot of land, owned by McGill, is tucked in between the church, the McGill Child Development Center and Afton Village. The partnership had its first year of produce in 2016.
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Since then The Farm has donated 84,493 pounds of food to seven local food pantries. That’s 337,872 servings.
Last year was the most productive year with 19,216 pounds donated — more than 75,000 servings of fresh, healthy vegetables. There were 119 volunteers who worked 667 hours. Retired extension agent David Goforth is directing the operations and lending his agricultural expertise to the project.
The Farm grows onions, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, squash, watermelon, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins and collard greens.
For New Year’s Day, Goforth cooked up collards for volunteers and church members. They were delicious — probably best greens I have ever eaten.
No. 2
Please paint more of the lines on the road. My friend Johnnie Eudy told me Sunday that I should ask about why the streets are painted with fresh lines, particularly on Poplar Tent Road and George Liles Parkway. Tuesday evening Johnnie called me to thank me for getting NCDOT paint lines on on Poplar Tent.
Well it wasn’t me that got them there. Johnnie and I had a good laugh about it.
But seriously the NCDOT, City of Concord, the City of Kannapolis and others really need to get on the ball and get these streets (especially turn lanes) striped in a timely fashion. Many of you have shared areas where the lines are not visible.
There have been wrecks that the lack of visible markings have contributed to the cause.
I saw a car driving the wrong direction on one poorly striped street a couple of weeks ago. Common sense should have told that driver that something was wrong, but as we all know common sense is not common.
Maybe lines will be part of the next group of contracts we’re about to share with you.
No. 3
Cabarrus County road contracts. NCDOT recently awarded a pair of contracts to improve conditions on more than 45 segments of secondary roads throughout Cabarrus County.
The first will be handled by Albemarle contractor NJR Group, Inc. The $2.7 million project will address 38 portions of secondary roads including:
Peach Orchard Road
Clarke Creek Parkway
Walden Ponds Thruway
Crossroads Place
The second, a smaller asphalt surface treatment project, will improve nine secondary routes in various locations. The contractor, Whitehurst Paving Co. out of Richmond, will use this pavement preservation method on these roads:
Jim Kiser Road
Marshall Drive
Cal Bost Road
Manassas Drive
Moose Road
Lacewood Court
Heglar Road
Ward Avenue
Both projects can get underway as soon as mid-April. The larger project is anticipated to be finished in the fall of 2025, and the smaller project should take about a year to complete.
NCDOT will temporarily close a Cabarrus County road as part of a $4 million bridge project on N.C. 73 over Dutch Buffalo Creek, just outside Mount Pleasant.
Contract crews with NJR Group, Inc. of Albemarle will close Dutch Road at N.C. 73 on Monday, April 1, for approximately three weeks. During the closure, crews will tie in the new bridge and roadway alignment on N.C. 73, and complete grading and paving work.
The new bridge is located just north of the existing bridge with three travel lanes — each 12 feet wide — with four-foot shoulders on either side.
A detour will be in place for drivers along Little Bear Creek Road and Lentz Harness Shop Road, returning to N.C. 73.
No. 4
Road work over the county line. Motorists traveling on N.C. 24/27 near the Mecklenburg/Cabarrus County line will soon see a new traffic pattern at the Arlington Church/Brooks Road intersection, as a $1.6 million project gets underway.
The contractor, NJR Group Inc. of Albemarle, will convert the existing intersection to a reduced conflict intersection, or RCI. The RCI simplifies traffic movements by removing the number of conflict points, or possible locations, where vehicles can collide.
Side-street traffic is redirected to turn right to enter the flow of traffic, while drivers wanting to go in the opposite direction simply enter a lane to make a U-turn. This design reduces the risk of collisions and allows drivers to travel more quickly through the corridor.
A permanent change in the pattern will see drivers approaching N.C. 24/27 from the side roads turning right, then making a U-turn to reach their destination.
Contract crews started clearing the area earlier this month. The roadway portion of the project should be complete in June, with vegetation establishment continuing through the end of the year.
A $3.4 million contract awarded by the NCDOT will bring improvements to a portion of Harris Boulevard and other roads in Mecklenburg County.
The contract includes milling, resurfacing, and shoulder reconstruction to approximately 7.3 miles throughout the county, including sections of these roads:
Harris Boulevard between Old Concord Road and N. Tryon Street, about 1.5 miles
Ballantyne Commons Parkway between Tom Short Road and Brittany Oaks Drive
Monroe Road between Lumarka Drive and Knickerbocker Drive
Bellhaven Boulevard between Valleydale Road and Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road
The contractor, Blythe Construction Inc., can start as soon as mid-April and complete the project by fall 2025.
Next week, NCDOT contract crews will briefly pause traffic on Catawba Avenue at Burton Lane in Cornelius as part of a $14.6 million project to build dual roundabouts at Catawba Avenue and U.S. 21 (Statesville Road.)
Crews will stop traffic in both directions several times between 9 a.m. and noon on Wednesday, April 3, to safely clear two large trees from the work area. Each stop will last about five minutes.
Work will be paused if traffic backs up to the I-77 interchange, allowing time for congestion to clear.
One roundabout will be built on U.S. 21 north of the Catawba Avenue intersection, with the other being built to its south, eliminating the need for left turns. For example, a driver wishing to turn left from Catawba Avenue to U.S. 21 would turn right and make a circle around in one of the roundabouts, then continue straight on Catawba Avenue.
Also down in Union County, an intersection will soon be converted to a roundabout thanks to a $3.4 million contract the NCDOT recently awarded to contractor Efficient Developments LLC. of Charlotte.
Contract crews plan to close Lawyers Road at Indian Trail-Fairview Road on April 1 to construct the roundabout by May 24. Other lane closures required for the project must occur during non-peak travel times in the mornings and afternoons, and outside major holidays.
During construction, traffic will be detoured using Rocky River Road, Unionville-Indian Trail Road, U.S. 601 and N.C. 218, depending on destination.
No. 5
New signal lights on Poplar Tent Road. We’re trying to get more information about this but here’s what we can surmise from what we see on the ground.
New signal lights are hanging at the intersection of Poplar Tent and Rock Hill Church Road/Eva Drive. They are not operational but it does appear there will be turn lanes and left-hand turn lights.
Many of us were afraid the roundabout-happy NCDOT was going to put another roundabout there. It is pretty clear there will be turn lanes and not a roundabout.
At rush hour, this intersection is a really jam (also when I-85 has major issues and traffic is dumped onto Poplar Tent).
We’ll keep trying to find out more.
If you have a Friday Five, story suggestion or something I can rant about, email mplemmons@independenttribune.com or call or text 704-786-0001.