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Long-awaited Clement Boulevard Extension to ease traffic on U.S. 321

Robert C. Reed

Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright discusses the Clement Boulevard Extension project prior to the official groundbreaking.

BY THE NUMBERS

$3,403,000: Total cost

$2 million: Roadway construction

$390,000: Railroad crossing

$328,000: Utility relocation

$307,000: Engineering

$240,000: Land and right of way acquisition

$85,000: Landscaping

$38,000: Geotechnical testing

$15,000: North Carolina Department of Transportation signal inspection

Source: City of Hickory

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: October 30, 2009

HICKORY - Clement Boulevard was built about 15 years ago. Thursday the official groundbreaking ceremony was held as construction crews began work to complete the long-awaited extension that will connect the road to Old Lenoir Road.

"This has been a long time coming, but that doesn't make it any less exciting," said Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright as he addressed those gathered for the event. "This is going to be a wonderful thing for all of us."

The project will cost about $3.5 million and will come from funds set aside in the city's budget for the past four years, said Hickory City Manager Mick Berry.

About 38,000 cars travel on Old Lenoir Road daily. During a recent test, almost 900 cars made a left turn into the southbound lane of U.S. 321 from Old Lenoir Road — triple what the lane was designed to accommodate, said Hickory Traffic Engineer Nathan Vannoy.

The Clement Boulevard extension being built to connect the street to Old Lenoir Road across U.S. 321, is designed to improve traffic flow on all three roads, Berry said.

The dual left-turn lanes on the Clement Extension are designed to reduce traffic at U.S. 321 and Old Lenoir Road to the level it was designed to support, Vannoy said.

The extension also fulfills contractual promises made to RaceWay and CVS when the businesses located on either side of the abrupt end of Clement Boulevard on the east side of U.S. 321, Berry said.

He added the extension is not designed to be the beginning of a connector running from N.C. 127 to U.S. 321. That long-awaited thoroughfare was voted down by the Hickory City Council in 1998 and is no longer included in the city's long-range transportation plan.

"They determined that is not going to happen," he said.

The project began Oct. 19 and is expected to wrap up next summer.

No detours are expected, but motorists should expect traffic delays because of lane shifts and closures, said city officials.

"People, be patient — for the next nine or 10 months this will be a little inconvenient, but in the end, it will be worth it," said Wright.