North Carolina Department of Transportation officials will be closing part of Ephesus Church Road in November to address flooding issues – but the closure is frustrating nearby residents.

The closure will be near the intersection with Tinkerbell Road, close to Ephesus Elementary School.

Town public works director Lance Norris said the plan is to “replace an existing undersized and dilapidated pipe” to address “the flooding issues that have been occurring on Ephesus Church Road”.

But the plan was announced on short notice, and that’s frustrated both residents and officials.

Mayor Pam Hemminger said the work has been delayed in an effort to establish an alternate traffic plan.

“It’s great that they want to do it, but they didn’t give us a heads up and just closed the road down,” Hemminger said. “That’s not really going to work until we know how to detour. So we’ve delayed it just for a few days while we can get some detours.”

Town officials said they did not receive any prior notice regarding the DOT’s decision. Council Member Ed Harrrison said when he raised the issue in a meeting, he was told the DOT “assumed their staff had told the town”.

Hemminger said despite the short notice and the inconvenience, the work will take place.

“We’re working with [the DOT], there will be some rerouting, but its going to be inconvenient for a lot of people until about the end of December.”

With the slight delay, construction is now expected to begin on November 1and will last until December 22, weather permitting.

Related Stories
‹
Country Club Road Near UNC's Campus to Be Closed for Construction
A popular road near the UNC campus is set to be repaved and reconstructed in the coming days. The Town of Chapel Hill shared a release Thursday saying a stretch of Country Club Road is expected to be closed to a one-way, one-lane street beginning on Monday, November 1. The town said as the work […]
Town of Chapel Hill Shares Summer Timeline for Street Resurfacing
Starting next week, several streets in Chapel Hill will begin to be patched and resurfaced, signaling the beginning of a weeks-long effort throughout the town. A release from the Town of Chapel Hill on Friday shared a timeline for road work to be done throughout the summer by contractors. The message said milling and patching […]
OWASA Begins Replacing Water Line on Bolinwood Drive
An OWASA contractor is beginning work on a water line replacement project on Bolinwood Drive in Chapel Hill around the bridge crossing Bolin Creek on Friday. The water line in the area of Bolinwood Drive was damaged in previous flooding during Hurricane Florence in 2018. According to OWASA, replacing the water line is “key to […]
Lane Closures, Reduction Expected Along Fordham Boulevard in Chapel Hill
Motorists using U.S. 15-501 and Fordham Boulevard in Chapel Hill will begin to see some lane closures for the next few mornings.
New Traffic Calming Measures To Be Installed Around Wegmans
Earlier this week, the Chapel Hill Town Council authorized traffic calming improvements to be implemented around the new Wegmans under construction off 15-501. The main goal of these improvements is to alleviate traffic in the residential areas around the grocery store development. As part of the Wegmans Special Use Permit, approved by the Chapel Hill […]
OWASA Completes Repairs on Cameron and South Columbia Intersection in Chapel Hill
According to a release from OWASA, the installation of a new water line at the intersection of West Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street in Chapel Hill has been completed, after closure and detour for “critical water main repairs” began on July 27. Crews will continue working on the area from 7 a.m. to 7 […]
Chapel Hill Town Council Considers Options for Fordham Boulevard Sidepath
A project to build a sidepath to Fordham Boulevard in Chapel Hill has been in the works since 2016. While some residents have been outspoken against the development, the Town Council shared some of its own comments on Wednesday night. Representatives from Chapel Hill’s Transportation department presented two design options at the center of the […]
3 Car Crash Causes Morning Delays in Chapel Hill
A three-car collision in Chapel Hill caused delays throughout Thursday morning along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Chapel Hill Police Department alerted the community around 8 a.m. about a crash involving three cars along the busy thoroughfare near Piney Mountain Road. Police said at the time Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was decreased to […]
NCDOT Adding Two All-Way Stop Signs at Downtown Hillsborough Intersections
The North Carolina Department of Transportation said a pair of intersections in Hillsborough are scheduled to be converted to all-way stop designs next week. In a release on Friday, the department said two intersections on West King Street, which currently features a continuous traffic flow, will be altered to all-way stops. In cooperation with the […]
Chapel Hill Transit: Dobbins Drive Bus Lines to be Detoured
Chapel Hill Transit announced Friday the two bus lines that use Dobbins Drive will be detoured beginning Monday, January 6. A construction project on the road means the CL and D bus routes will be detoured around the area of Midtown 501 Apartments until permission is given from Orange Water and Sewer Authority to continue […]
›