SMITHFIELD – Thousands of drivers travel to retail stores, hotels, and restaurants along Outlet Center Drive in Smithfield each day. Complaints about the roadway have been numerous. They include concerns about the roundabout, confusing signage, poor road conditions, potholes, and now fading or non-existent pavement markings.
Imagine the difficulty for motorists who have never driven along Outlet Center Drive attempting to stay in the correct travel lane at night, or while it’s raining.
Maintenance for Outlet Center Drive is the responsibility of the Town of Smithfield. Last year, with limited funding, the Town elected not to resurface Outlet Center Drive and use Powell Bill money to repave sections of more than a dozen residential streets.
During the February 6 town council meeting, Town Manager Mike Scott updated elected officials on the deteriorating roadway and lane markings.
In his monthly Manager’s Report to the mayor and council, Mr. Scott stated, “The condition of the pavement on Outlet Center Drive continues to deteriorate. Primarily the road striping had faded to the point where some areas are difficult to see. The faded striping is becoming a safety hazard and needs to be addressed. Public Works is working to get an estimate to restripe the street. The estimate is likely in excess of $10,000. The striping will need to be redone again once the road is resurfaced.”
In an email to the Johnston County Report, Town Manager Scott said, ” The Council has been discussing how to proceed with Outlet Center Drive for some time. There appeared to be some grant funding coming available that the Council was hoping to tap into rather than repair the road using Smithfield tax dollars or State Powell Bill Funds. Staff is currently working with NCDOT to explore additional options to repave Outlet Center Drive and also to place temporary striping in the faded areas of the road. We estimated the cost at $910,000 last March. We hope to discuss this with the Council at a public meeting soon.”
A 2021 NCDOT study found that high-quality lane markings help drivers better navigate roads and curves, particularly at night or in the rain, according to RoadsBridges.com. The study found a 13 percent reduction in lane-departure crashes after long-life markings were added to the roadway, however long-life markings can cost more than traditional markings.
The report said the NCDOT has applied 6 inch wide lane markings in some cases, instead of the standard 4 inch, to improve visibility. Smithfield officials have not said what type of lane markings they plan to apply or when the work could be scheduled.
get rid of the round a bout first before anything
Just because you don’t know how to use it does not mean it should be removed. Do you propose a traffic light that will make traffic worse?
Why so much dislike for the roundabout? It’s an easy concept and helps to reduce traffic. This is a fact.
The pavement markings on West Market Street from the river to Hwy-210 are also hard to see when wet at night with street light reflections.
That road is an embarrassment to our town. Lots of out of town visitors and residents of Smithfield travel to the outlet and restaurants using that road. It’s pathetic that is has been allowed to get this bad. Also, the road markings are all but faded away at the major intersection of Market St and Brightleaf Blvd. It is a hazard. Can’t our town do better?
You are defintely spot on!! Just about ALL roads in Smithfield are an embarrassment 🙁
As a local who travels Outlet Center Drive often, it is a shame to let the street get in that disarray. I can’t imagine someone coming in at nighttime and trying to navigate the street and many potholes. Get off your butt and do something @Town of Smithfield and @NCDOT. When the new outlet opens behind Robbins Nest, you’ll take action then and try to bring your visitors back. Until then, only crickets. This is not a sudden problem. The street has been in need of repair for several years.
The Outlet Center Drive is a horrible and confusing mess!!!
I still can’t figure out how to get to Panera Bread for the Outlet Center Drive after living here fir 8 years…..
I can tell you how to get there. Go to Garner instead.
I hope they can redo the entire roadway system around the outlet center. Who came up with that crazy idea anyway? NCDOT ? Maybe they should pay for it. Roundabouts I think are dumb anyway. Sadly, they are more prevalent.
Roundabouts in general are way better than stoplights but the roundabout by the outlets is a confusing mess.
And please don’t just throw more round abouts at the problem…
they need to get rid of that and turn that stretch back to what it use to be
Maybe use the $40,000 on the road instead of the new sign at town hall. Safety should be first.
Yes!
Use the $40,000 on the road instead of replacing the sign at town hall, safety should be the priory.
Roads are very bad. Messing up cars and causing danger to the public. Residents who live here travel these roads daily. It’s a pain when you trying to be safe and not mess up what you worked so hard for. They only care about the business the outlets bring. For all the business it brings funding should be available. Not just outlet road majority of smithfield and selma roads are a danger for the public. The crossing by the train station is a major hazard. But continue to raise everything here but expect people to want to live here. It’s embarrassing to the people and the people who are in control of what happens. Their favorite line is we live close to Raleigh so we charge Raleigh prices.
This is a joke right. The outlet center road has been a problem since they built them. If you start at the Speedway gas station heading for the outlet center the lane, you’re in just ends. Oh, and let’s not forget Mike Scott that knew about the road problems but wanted his toy sign at a cost of $40,000 at the town hall. Mike Scott pushed for this sign, he is a joke, and the best thing Smithfield could do is get rid of him before he totally destroys Smithfield.
Outlet Center DRIVE is the safety hazard? How about the entire Outlet Center being the safety hazard? Stores frequently being robbed, employees put in danger, families put in danger….Leave the road alone, maybe the bad guys will hit the roundabout head on and crash. Take care of the more serious problem first. Otherwise, newcomers and locals alike won’t worry about the roads because they won’t be going there anyway.
How can they say the roads TO the Outlet Center are safety hazards, when in fact, its THE Outlet Center that is a bigger safety hazard. With all the robberies, smash and grabs, etc., it is the staff, the customers, and even in the parking lot and on that road who are in danger every day by thugs who aren’t stopped by local law enforcement. Let’s leave the roads alone until they take care of the crime, because otherwise the Outlet Center stores will be a thing if the past and the roads won’t matter.
$40,000 for their sign, but gives all the small businesses an extremely hard time about their signage. Hope they follow their own ridiculous sign ordinance and it especially better not flash.
The only thing smithfield has going for it is the outlets, you would thing that road would be paved in gold.
The outlets are the only thing Smithfield has going for it. You would think the road would be paved in Gold.
What I do not hear in these comments is “hey let’s put a bond referendum on the ballot”…. If we are that feed up with the situation, let’s generate some funds that can fix it
What are taxes for….and let the stores pay for it also
I asked about the outlet road two years ago. Drove on it this week dodging the bad spots. Have to be careful when approaching cars go on the turning lane. I was surprised the town chose to pave residential streets rather than fix the outlet road. Very surprised.
I feel like it’s disgraceful that such a place that wants to draw businesses is doing so poorly on I frastructure especially being right by I-95. I hope Selma can show them up and out do them.
I avoid that rd as much as possible… If I do have to take it, I’m usually driving halfway in my lane and halfway in the turning lane, trying to dodge all of the potholes… I hit a crater before and got a flat tire. Does that mean the town is gonna reimburse me for the new one?
It’s my understanding the traffic pattern there is as such that you have to go back around your butt to get to your elbow because a politician owns commercial lots for sale in the area and wanted traffic directed to where drivers could see the lots for sale signs.
People using the road make mistakes (like speeding, running stop signs and red lights, turning left in front of oncoming traffic), always have and always will. Crashes will always be with us, but they need not result in fatalities or serious injury.
Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world – the intersection type with the lowest risk of fatal or serious injury crashes – (much more so than comparable signals). Modern roundabouts require a change in speed and alter the geometry of one of the most dangerous parts of the system – intersections. The reduction in speed to about 20 mph and sideswipe geometry mean that, when a crash does happen at a modern roundabout, you might need a tow truck, but rarely an ambulance. Visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or FHWA for modern roundabout FAQs and safety facts.
The FHWA has been saying for over 20 years that signal intersections have TEN TIMES the fatality risk of modern roundabouts.
l for one think we should spend more money on studies like the aforementioned DOT study to assess whether or not long-term paint helps reduce crashes, because I am sure they don’t cost very much money and may even be free. I also think that outsiders probably have minimal difficulty navigating the embarrassment of a round about that currently exists. My mother, myself, and probably a lot more of us in Johnston county, can’t even figure out how to navigate the silliest waste of money that serves absolutely no purpose. Every single time I travel through there it exasperates me and I wonder how much money was wasted for that mess. But then again sessions for people that try to be transparent are shunned and or shut down.
No wonder new businesses and restaurants don’t want to come to Smithfield