HIGH POINT — The city is ready to begin work on the second of three transportation projects that High Point voters approved in a 2019 bond referendum.
Prime contractor Yates Construction Co. recently was given notice to proceed from the city with a series of improvements to Burton Avenue from behind the Food Lion shopping center on Westchester Drive to Willard Road near the Davidson County line.
The Stokesdale-based firm has started mobilizing equipment and installing traffic control throughout the project limits, but major construction can’t start until private utilities are out of the way.
The city expects Lumos and Spectrum to finish moving their overhead lines along Burton Avenue where the road will be widened by the end of February, according to Engineering and Facilities Director Trevor Spencer.
“Yates Construction Company will be making progress in the meantime, but we expect construction operations to ramp up significantly in March when utility conflicts are eliminated,” he said.
The company was awarded a $6.55 million contract by the city in October 2024 for the project, which will improve a half-mile stretch of road that traverses several residential areas.
The widening will address motorist and pedestrian safety and is designed to improve drainage and street aesthetics, according to the city.
There is a lot of pedestrian activity along Burton Avenue, but with no sidewalks, residents must walk along the road’s narrow, unpaved shoulders that include steep ditches in some areas, according to the city.
In addition to widening the vehicular travel lanes, the improvements will include construction of sidewalks, bicycle lanes and enhancements to transit stops on the road, as well as upgrades to underground water, sewer and stormwater utilities.
The city completed its first 2019 transportation bond project in August 2024 with the realignment of a section of Washington Street away from a failing railroad slope in front of Penn-Griffin School for the Arts.
The final project will be improvements to Triangle Lake Road.