Crews work to finish an extension of Rupple Road across from the old smokehouse building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Staff photo
City officials will celebrate the completion of a major phase of the Rupple Road Improvement Project during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 near the intersection of Rupple and Persimmon Street in southwest Fayetteville.
Crews are putting the finishing touches on a 1.5-mile extension of Rupple from Persimmon to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which will provide motorists with an easier route to Walmart, Lowe’s and the other businesses on the west side of Interstate 49.
Once Friday’s ceremony has concluded the new stretch of road will be opened to traffic.
The project includes a landscaped median with roundabouts at three intersections, a 5-foot sidewalk on the east side of the road, and a 12-foot trail on the west side.
Officials expect the project will drive economic development in southwest Fayetteville as the fields and pastures that separate MLK Boulevard and Wedington Drive give way to commercial and residential developments.
The $7.3 million project is being funded using transportation bonds approved by voters in 2006.
The state highway department recently approved plans for a traffic signal at Rupple and MLK, which is scheduled to be installed in January 2017.
The existing roadway on Rupple from Persimmon to Wedington Drive is also being widened to four lanes, along with a short stretch on the north side of Wedington to Congressional Street.
