NCDOT Awards $1.8M Contract To Build Roundabout at High-Traffic Whiteville Intersection

The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded a $1.8 million contract to Highland Paving Co. The Fayetteville-based company will replace a stoplight with a roundabout at a busy Whiteville intersection. Work can begin in late March.

The new roundabout will sit south of downtown Whiteville. Lee and Franklin streets meet at an angle with U.S. 701 Business, which locals know as South Madison Street. Around 16,000 vehicles pass through each day, per NCDOT data.

Traffic will move better once the signal comes down. Roundabouts will save drivers time and fuel because no red lights will reduce the idling time spent at intersections.

NCDOT reports crashes involving fatalities or injuries drop by 79% with roundabouts compared to traditional intersections. Drivers approaching a roundabout yield to traffic already in the circle, then merge and continue through.

Crews will close the intersection temporarily at some point during construction. Traffic will detour onto Lee, Franklin, and Main streets during that period.

NCDOT will post closure details ahead of time at DriveNC.gov. Motorists can search under "Columbus County" for real-time updates about local road conditions.

Columbus County has installed roundabouts at several locations already. One sits at the intersection of U.S. 701 and U.S. 75. Another was built at Peacock's Crossing near Chadbourn. A third went in where Chauncey Town Road meets N.C. 214 at Lake Waccamaw.

Plans call for several more in the coming years. The project should be done by December.