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CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Labor Day / End of Summer --- an appropriate time for a photographic report on several significant construction projects going on around here: Starting with the widening and extending of Booker Dairy Road ... Considerable progress has been made in recent days in front of Smithfield-Selma High School and Neuse Charter School, as the scene below illustrates. Sidewalks are now finished on both sides of the street, and curbing to control traffic flow has been "activated" along with new lane alignments ....  Meanwhile, crews are putting the finishing touches on the eastward extension along a new course that runs just north of Wal-Mart into Bright Leaf Boulevard near the new Classic Ford dealership (pictured below). Latest word is that completion of the entire project may be done this November rather than next spring. As a result, the Smithfield Town Council has been asked to make a decision soon on naming the altered sections of the thoroughfare. Planning Director Stephen Wensman has recommended "Ava Gardner" (Avenue or Boulevard?) for the new extension as well as the western end of Booker Dairy Road in front of the schools and the Recreation and Aquatics Center.   Affinity Living Group's new assisted-living center for seniors appears to be close to completion. It's located on a new street --- Kellie Drive --- just west of the campus of Neuse Charter School. Kellie Drive, meanwhile, is under construction beyond this point to an intersection with Buffalo Road north of town.  A new Hampton Inn is under construction near the Golden Corral restaurant and the Sheetz convenience store on East Market Street (US 70 Business) close to I-95. Local officials took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking this week, although construction is well under way. Completion of the five-story hotel is expected a year from now. It will replace an existing Hampton Inn up the road at Selma.  "College Plaza" is the name of this multiple-business structure going up across East Market Street from Johnston Community College. The "Now Leasing" sign out front indicates that occupants are still being sought. Meanwhile, a major construction project is nearing completion at nearby Johnston Community College. It involves renovation of the Paul A. Johnston Auditorium, conversion of the school's former library into a "Student Success Center," and reconstruction of the plaza leading from the school's main parking lot to the building's entrance (pictured below). Financing for the work includes the Johnston County bond issue approved by voters last year, funds from the recent "Connect NC" state bond issue, as well as private philanthropy.  |
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