Overview
Timmons Group, working with Mecklenburg County, recently completed the design (and construction administration) for 2 miles of improvements to the rural Ridge Road corridor between U.S. Route 58 and Old Cox Road. VDOT had been making significant maintenance expenditures over a two-year period to maintain the gravel roadway, which is being used by construction traffic for a major Microsoft facility which has continued to expand over a long time period. In addition, the County had been working to alleviate continuous community concern over the condition and safety of the
roadway (dust inhibiting sight distance, trucks and cars sharing the narrow roadway, etc.), contributing to the critical nature of the project. Timmons Group helped the County through the revenue-sharing application process, secured funds for the project, and designed right of way and construction plans in close coordination with the County Administrator. Special attention to public involvement and community outreach was required for this project, allowing the citizens in the area the opportunity to have an impact on the overall project design.
In an effort to meet the County’s commitments to the public, construction plans were developed in under 10 months, and construction was completed in November 2017.
Outside of the high costs of maintaining a gravel road experiencing continuous heavy vehicle traffic, several other challenges were overcome in designing this project. Due to the corridor length and rural nature, traditional field survey was used only to supplement aerial survey, helping to compress the project schedule. The schedule was a critical aspect of this project, as construction was slated to start less than 14 months following approval of the revenue-sharing funding. Timmons Group provided utility relocation coordination for seven private utilities located within the corridor, successfully planning and scheduling these adjustments at minimal costs to the project. Rather than just replace the existing stone surface, Timmons Group identified and designed the improvement of several substandard curves and introduced superelevation throughout the corridor to ensure the road would be sufficient to support future growth and construction in the area. This project has been a great success story for the partnership of our team and County officials working together to meet common goals. Timmons Group stayed on board with the County to see this project through construction while also developing concepts for two additional revenue-sharing projects with the County in the same vicinity of the Microsoft campus. Those two projects are currently in plan development at this time.
