Several All-Way Stops Coming To Johnston County

NCDOT Photo

​SMITHFIELD – Nine intersections across Johnston County will be converted into all-way stops to improve safety.

The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded this month a $545,000 contract to Highway Traffic Control Inc. of Durham to install the all-ways stops at the following intersections:

  • U.S. 701 at Stewart Road
  • N.C. 50 at Woods Crossroads Road
  • N.C. 39 at Little Devine Road/Browns Pond Road
  • N.C. 39 at N.C. 231
  • N.C. 222 at Antioch Church Road
  • N.C. 96 at Earpsboro Road
  • N.C. 231 at N.C. 222/Buck Road
  • N.C. 242 at Tarheel Road
  • N.C. 42 at Thanksgiving Fire Road

The contractor can begin between August and October, and once started, will have seven months to complete the improvements. The contractor has the flexibility to make the changes in any order, but typically will do one on Wednesdays. The contractor will be required to notify the public with signs before the change is made.

Drivers who encounter these intersections on the day of installation should slow down, be cautious and follow directions from flaggers directing traffic. 

The department’s traffic engineers evaluated the intersections and determined they warranted all-way stops to reduce the risk of crashes. The typical crash pattern involved drivers who had failed to yield, crashing into vehicles that did not have to stop at the intersection. 

An all-way stop reduces the intersection’s crashes by 68%, according to NCDOT data. 

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11 COMMENTS

  1. I can’t stand all way stops!! Just put up the lights!!! I don’t trust people at all way stops. No one knows when to go…(or trust the others to know).

  2. There needs to be 2 or 3 on 701 between Newton Grove and 95… people/truckers use 701 as a cut through to 40 and they think the the speed limit is 70mph

    • I see you have left the same comment twice you must have been one of the countless I have passed because you think driving 40 holding up a trucker makes you a star citizen

  3. We have several of those “All-Way Stops” in the city limits of Smithfield, but they seem to just be suggestions as they’re never enforced.

  4. By that logic, every driveway should have all-way stop signs. It punishes the innocent for the illegal behavior of others.

    These are all in areas with a lot of recent growth in housing developments for fringe commuters. Their commute is about to get longer, and cost more.

    42 East has become a traffic nightmare, and another all-way stop won’t help. All of the accidents seem to happen at the lights, not the two-way stops. The issue is poorly trained drivers who refuse to pay attention. So stop everyone who might cross their path.

    All the traffic calming makes every trip longer and even more temptation not to pay attention.

  6. Should have been one on each for a long time. I guess it only took over 8 dozen accidents including my mother off 231 to finally get through the states head they needed this to be done for awhile. 20 + years later of people complaining about this and now they finally realized people are fed up with them not doing anything to prevent this. It’s about da*n time the city got there head out of there butts.

    • The two intersections on 231 are the only ones out of the 9 that really have enough cross traffic to justify more traffic control. Still, they should have traffic circles for the same reason, instead of the cheaper but more wasteful stops. This is not the way to conserve resources.

  7. They need 2 or 3 on 701 between Newton Grove and 95. Alot of people/truckers use it as a cut through between 95 and 40, and they think the speed limit is 70+ mph.

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