River Road reopens, phase 3 of project continues | News

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – The much anticipated reopening of River Road took a longer than some drivers had hoped.

The original plan was to have River Road, between Sanders and Independence, open at the end of May. That date was pushed back to June 8 because weather conditions delayed the repaving effort, according to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority.

WECT received several phone calls Friday morning concerned that River Road was not open Friday morning on their drive to work. Workers on site said the road will be open when it's finished, but said they anticipate work to be complete "sometime" Friday.

By 4:30 Friday evening one lane of the section of the road had reopened.

Phase three of the project will begin Thursday and will include a lane shift on River road north of Independence Blvd. If you're traveling northbound on River Road, you will be shifted to the center lane. Traffic will flow in both directions.

This is all due to the Barnard's Creek sewer improvement project, which is expected to be finished by the end of July.

Stay with WECT and WECT.com for updates on the construction of River Road.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.