HIGH POINT – The new intersection of Deep River Road and Eastchester Drive in north High Point could open this fall, an executive with the general contractor for the project said.

Grading began at the first of the year on the new half-mile section of Deep River that will tie into Eastchester at Lake Forest Drive. The new intersection, near Deep River Church of Christ on Eastchester, will include a traffic signal, which doesn’t exist at the current intersection of the two roads. The new intersection is 1,400 feet from the existing one.

Weather permitting, the new section of Deep River and the intersection should be completed by mid-October, said Ivan Clayton, vice president and general manager with Sharpe Brothers of Greensboro.

If finished in the fall, the project would come in ahead of the original completion date of December.

“Right now the grading is substantially completed,” Clayton said Wednesday.

Work is progressing on installing water lines, the traffic signal and a retaining wall, he said.

The project, funded through the federal stimulus, will cost $1.5 million, according to N.C. Department of Transportation figures. The new intersection is designed to make it easier for motorists to turn left from Deep River onto Eastchester and from Eastchester onto Deep River.

The intersection will include left- and right-turn lanes on Deep River at the Eastchester traffic signal.

The new section of Deep River will cut off to the west of the existing road just beyond the Sunset Hollow residential development.

The existing section of Deep River Road from First Christian Church Ministries of High Point to Eastchester will remain open, mainly for local traffic.

pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528