HIGH POINT – Motorists traveling Eastchester Drive in north High Point should pass through a new interchange at Deep River Road – complete with a traffic signal – by the end of this year.

Crews recently began clearing land for a new half-mile section of Deep River that will tie into Eastchester at Lake Forest Drive. A traffic signal, which isn’t in place at the nearby existing interchange, will make it easier for motorists to turn left from Deep River onto Eastchester and from Eastchester onto Deep River, said Mark McDonald, city transportation director.

The new section of Deep River should open by December, he said. The project, funded through the federal stimulus, will cost $1.5 million, according to N.C. Department of Transportation figures.

The new interchange, near Deep River Church of Christ, will be 1,400 feet from the existing one. The interchange will include left- and right-turn lanes on Deep River at the Eastchester traffic signal, McDonald said.

The new section of Deep River Road will cut off to the west of the existing road just beyond the Sunset Hollow residential development across from First Christian Church Ministries of High Point. All existing driveways and entry points into Deep River will be maintained, McDonald said.

The intersection of Willard Dairy Road and Deep River Road also will be shifted because of the interchange relocation.

The new interchange for Deep River and Eastchester was part of a city bond issue six years ago. The use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding would permit the city to free up city bond money originally intended for Deep River for another project, such as the extension of Hartley Drive in northwest High Point, McDonald said.

“When the stimulus came out a year ago, this was the closest project we had to being shovel-ready. The amount that the stimulus frees up is going to be a big help getting Hartley done,” he said.

pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528