Glensford Drive project finish delayed until March

Dozens of drivers on Sunday afternoon drove nearly a mile past "road closed" and "local traffic only" signs on Glensford Drive to see for themselves: The long-awaited connection to Hope Mills Road at Raeford Road remains long-awaited.

They may be distressed to learn that the parkway's repeatedly delayed opening date, most recently postponed to January, has been postponed further by a failing sewer line. Engineers hope the project will be wrapped up by early spring, said Ginny Inman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

"Once they started working on the construction, they ran into a sewer line issue," Inman said. "They did not want to put a new road on something that would have to be torn up."

The delay suits Glensford Drive resident Daniel Bay.

"The longer it's postponed, the better, because as soon as they open this thing up, it's going to be Skibo," Bay said. Skibo Road is one of the busiest, heaviest-traveled streets in Fayetteville.

Once Glensford opens, Fayetteville will have a major new artery to funnel traffic from Raeford Road and the Hope Mills area to the city's commercial heart at Cross Creek Mall. The trip will be will be shortened by more than a mile and drivers will be able to avoid the intersection of Skibo and Raeford roads, the city's busiest intersection.

Bay bought his house 11 years ago and was unhappy to learn not long afterward that Glensford, then a two-lane residential street, was slated to become a four-lane divided parkway.

Now Bay and his wife have three children, ages 7 to 11. He worries about them with the heavy traffic he expects to see speeding past his front yard. And the yard is smaller than it used to be because of the widening and partly covered with straw where the road construction workers have reseeded it.

The street remains a mess of straw-covered lawns, muddy areas and construction equipment. When it's finished and cleaned up, Bay said, he plans to move away and rent out his home. He's hopeful that eventually the street will convert to commercial use so he can sell it for top-dollar.

One of his neighbors, Sharon Gurganus Avery, has concerns about how well her elderly mother, Josephine Gurganus, will handle backing into traffic out of her driveway once the connection opens.

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Glensford Drive project finish delayed until March