Traffic Alert – Song Sparrow Drive

Thursday, June 13, 2024 - 9:45am

A contractor working on behalf of the NC Department of Transportation has closed the portion of Song Sparrow Drive from Ligon Mill Road to Chimney Swift Drive. The closure is necessary to allow crews to place the fill as part of the Ligon Mill Road Bridge Replacement Project.

A signed detour is in place along Chimney Swift Drive and Night Heron Drive. 

Built in 1967 to span Smith Creek, the existing bridge is classified as deficient, which means that although the bridge is safe, it needs to be replaced due to the deterioration of some bridge components that can no longer be addressed by maintenance. It is also considered functionally obsolete, meaning that the bridge no longer meets the demands of the traffic using it.

NCDOT has evaluated options to improve traffic operations while reducing the project’s effect on the community and environment. Construction time is estimated to be 18 months. The following improvements are proposed as part of the project:

  • 200-foot long, 58-foot-wide bridge (roadway width of 47 feet).

  • Three 11-foot lanes (two in each direction with a center turn lane).

  • Five-foot bike lane in the northbound and southbound directions.

  • Five-foot sidewalks along the east side of Ligon Mill Road from the northern project limit to Song Sparrow Drive and on the west side of Ligon Mill Road from the bridge to the southern project limit.

  • The roadway elevation of the new bridge will be approximately six feet higher than the existing bridge to accommodate a future Town of Wake Forest greenway underneath. 

For more information, email NCDOT Senior Assistant Resident Engineer Derrick Matthews at [email protected].