LEXINGTON, N.C. -- In the barbecue capital of North Carolina, two staples will soon have to shut the doors at their current spots.

• Smiley's and Speedy's will both have to close.
• A NCDOT project will cut into the properties.
• Construction is set to begin in 2020. 

Smiley's and Speedy's are both located on Winston Road in Lexington, where a road widening project will cut into their properties.

DOT engineers say they faced hard choices on which route to take.

"Businesses are our major concern on this project because there are so many of them, and quite a few will have to be relocated for this project,” said Pat Ivey, a division engineer with NCDOT.

"We had a lot of signatures, customers upset, thousands of signatures, and it evidently didn't mean a thing,” said Roy Dunn, the owner of Speedy’s BBQ.

The department plans to start buying properties in April of next year.

North Carolina law allows the DOT to buy property through eminent domain, as long as the projects are for the public good.

Construction should begin in the summer of 2020.