HIGH POINT -- Major work will begin in the next few weeks on improvements to a 3.4 mile stretch of Skeet Club Road. The $31 million to widen the busy street has been on the drawing board for years. The completed project is aimed at improving safety and travel for the 25,000 cars and trucks that use the road every day.

It once was a quiet two-lane country road, but today Skeet Club Road is one of High Point's busiest streets. The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans major improvements from just west of Eastchester Drive to nearly Johnson Street that engineers say will bring the street up to date.

"Skeet Club will be widened to a four-lane divided facility with median breaks for traffic to be able to make a safe left and U-turn movements with for the most part a grass median throughout the entire project," said Paul Ingram, a resident engineer.

Left turns now can slow traffic and increase the risk for accidents.

"There is a lot of traffic throughout the day, which does create a lot of congestion,” said Ingram. “This project will improve the safety at intersections. It will also improve capacity." 

For the first time, Skeet Club Road will be pedestrian friendly.

"We'll have sidewalk along the roadway, as well, on both sides of the road throughout the entire project," Ingram said.

Clearing is nearly finished to make room for the relocation of utilities. Ingram said major work was unlikely on Sundays, but drivers should expect to see crews out Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to dusk. They'll need some patience for the duration of the three-and-a-half year project. 

"We'll advise the best we can of issues that will come up through message boards and through signage and press releases, as well, to try to help the traveling public get through the work zone safely," he said.

The state contracted with APAC-Atlantic, Inc. To do the work. Ingram said the project would wrap up by October 2018.