Construction along Raleigh’s Atlantic Avenue will remain in limbo a while longer

The construction work along Atlantic Avenue that came to a standstill last winter will likely remain that way until at least next spring.

The city expects to choose a new contractor to take over the project by the end of the year, according to Sylvester Percival, the city’s manager of roadway design and construction.

But work won’t resume until power, gas and communications lines have been moved out of the way, Percival said. The private utility companies that are responsible for moving their lines and equipment have begun that work, Percival said, but it’s not expected to be complete until March.

“The contractor that is more than likely going to be the one that will be coming on board has indicated that they would like not to start the project until the utilities are mostly or all out of the way,” he told the City Council this week.

The new company will pick up where JSmith Civil LLC of Goldsboro left off earlier this year. The city awarded JSmith Civil a $9.6 million contract to rebuild a one-mile stretch of Atlantic between Highwoods Boulevard and New Hope Church Road.

The project includes widening the existing lanes, adding more turn lanes and building a grassy median down the center and a 10-foot multi-use path down the west side.

Once work resumes next spring, it will take another 18 months to finish, Percival said.

Most of the work remains undone

Goldsboro-based JSmith Civil and its subcontractors began work in the spring of 2022 and were to finish by the end of this year. But they largely stopped last winter, with the project just under 20% complete.

Westfield Insurance, the bonding company JSmith Civil hired to ensure the project gets finished, told the city in July that it didn’t expect the company to continue and that it had begun reviewing potential contractors to finish the job. The city officially terminated its contract with JSmith Civil in August.

JSmith Civil had also stopped work on three N.C. Department of Transportation projects in Eastern North Carolina earlier in the year.

Westfield is working with the city to choose the replacement contractor.

Meanwhile, the city is also looking to hire two contractors to watch over the construction zone and make sure measures to prevent erosion and direct traffic remain in place and functioning. They will also keep the grass and weeds down, according to the city.