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Speed limit on section of U.S. 158 in Bermuda Run to change
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Published: December 1, 2008
BERMUDA RUN
Drivers who use U.S. 158 in Bermuda Run might want to think about slowing down.
The speed limit will be lowered from 55 mph to 45 mph along a stretch of U.S. 158 between N.C. 801 and the Davie-Forsyth County line as early as February.
The Bermuda Run Town Council recently adopted a resolution on the new speed limit, but the N.C. Department of Transportation will have to give official approval of the lower speed, said Ron Bell, Bermuda Run's town manager.
Town officials have been asking that the speed limit be lowered for at least the past five years, Mayor John Ferguson said. In that time, the town and the eastern part of Davie County have experienced rapid growth. Subdivisions have popped up, and a $3 million, 11-field soccer complex has opened just off Interstate 40. Kinderton, a mixed-use development, has added traffic on U.S. 158 as well.
"That 55 speed limit is pretty dangerous with traffic coming out of the soccer field, the Kinderton business section, and now we have two or three doctors' offices," Ferguson said. "There's a lot of traffic."
Ellen Moore, the marketing broker for Kinderton, said she has seen an increase in traffic on the road.
"I've been out there when you could barely move when you're trying to get to meetings," she said.
Bell said there's limited visibility on that stretch of road because the road dips in certain places. Some drivers don't see cars coming from the other direction until they're close, he said. That has caused some minor accidents.
Officials with the N.C. DOT said that they agreed to the speed-limit reduction because the bridge that crosses Yadkin River on U.S. 158 is being replaced, said Randy Ogburn, a traffic engineer with DOT. The new bridge is designed for a speed limit of 45 mph, he said.
The project cost is estimated at $15 million and will be paid for with state and federal money, said Keith Raulston, a construction engineer with the DOT.
Raulston said that the bridge will be widened to four lanes and will be done in April 2010.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
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