NCDOT to present plans for N.C. 55 bypass around Angier

The N.C. Department of Transportation has determined that the best way to ease congestion on N.C. 55 in Angier is to move the road out of town.

NCDOT plans to build a four-lane bypass to carry N.C. 55 around Angier to the west. It’s part of a larger project that would widen the highway from two to four lanes with a raised median from south of Angier north into Wake County.

The public can see NCDOT’s plan at an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Angier Baptist Church, 155 South Hickory St.

The western bypass is partly a result of feedback NCDOT received last year when it presented three options to the public: bypasses on the west and east sides of town or widening N.C. 55 through downtown Angier.

Eventually, NCDOT plans to widen 11 miles of N.C. 55 from Fuquay-Varina to south of Angier, but for now it doesn’t have money for the whole project. It will begin building the first phase in 2022 from south of Angier in Harnett County to Jicarilla Lane in southern Wake, including the bypass.

The northern segment, from Jicarilla Lane to N.C. 42 in Fuquay-Varina, will remain a two-lane road until NCDOT finds the money.

NCDOT will accept feedback on the proposal through Nov. 29. Comments may be sent to project manager Kim Gillespie at 919-707-6023, klgillespie@ncdot.gov or by mail to Central Project Delivery, 1595 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1595.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 3:31 PM.