Sandy Forks Road Widening Project

Key features of the project include;

Three bioretention cells along the corridor treat and remove pollutants, including nitrogen, phosphorus, metals and hydrocarbons, reducing environmental impacts downstream in the Neuse watershed;
Warm mix asphalt was used on more than two-thirds of the project, reducing energy costs by 30 to 60 percent and reduces greenhouse-gas and hydrocarbon emissions;
Recycled concrete (a byproduct of waste concrete demo) was utilized as a substitute for virgin aggregate base course materials;
Recycled asphalt millings (7,000-tons) from the worn-out roadway was recycled and effectively re-used in the production of the new asphalt material;
Five-foot-wide bicycle lanes and six-foot-wide, ADA-compliant sidewalks and crosswalks on both sides of the roadway were added to the roadway;
Community art work by Baltimore Artist Jan Rosen-Queralt; and,
There are three places along the corridor where pedestrians and bicyclists alike can rest during their journey through the corridor.

Project Details

Type:: Streets
Budget:: $9.9 million
Project Lead:: Roadway Design & Construction
Contractors:: RK&K (Design Consultant), Carolina Sunrock, LLC (Construction Contractors)

History

The Sandy Forks Road Widening Project is Raleigh’s first Greenroad and earned the Silver Greenroads Certification in early January 2018.

The Greenroads Rating System is a sustainability rating system for roadway design and construction projects. Greenroads was established in 2010 and is a very similar process to the LEED certification program for building projects.

City staff was interested in learning new sustainable roadway design and construction practices, and the Greenroads certification program seemed like an excellent opportunity. Greenroads was established in 2010 and has a certification program for roadway design and construction projects that is very similar to the LEED certification program for building projects.

The Sandy Fork Road Project was considered a good candidate for the program based on preliminary plans that included many initiatives that were in line with credits associated with the Greenroads rating system. In February 2014 City Council authorized staff to register this project into the Greenroads program.

To mark the completion of the Sandy Forks Road Widening Project, the City held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the bioretention pond next to The Lakes Drive on April 10, 2018, Mayor Nancy McFarlane was the featured speaker for the ceremony, and was joined by Council Member, Richard A. Thompson, Engineering Services, Roadway Design & Construction Manager, Chris Johnson, Keith Skinner, Director of transportation for RK&K, the City’s design consultant for the project, and Greenroads Board of Director member, Ashley Hernandez.

During the ceremony, Ashley Hernandez presented the City with the Greenroads Silver Certificate Award. Sandy Forks Road is the 45 Greenroads project certified in the world and at the time of this article is Greenroads’ top-ranked and highest scoring project.

The City developed a project video that highlights the features of the project and provides details on how bioretention devises work, plus a time-lapse video was released that highlights the construction of two bioretention basins on Sandy Forks Road.

Greenroad's Press Release