A pair of extended road closures are expected to begin early in December, according to UNC and the Town of Carrboro.
On campus, part of Ridge Road is set to be closed traffic starting on Sunday as part of the ongoing renovation to Avery Residence Hall which is at the intersection of Ridge Road and Stadium Drive. UNC Facilities and Services said in an alert to the campus community the area in front of Avery and Boshamer Stadium will be completely closed to through traffic, while the ends of Ridge Road at Manning Drive and Country Club Road will each have signage detouring additional traffic from the closure.
The recommended detour for vehicles is utilizing Manning Drive, Fordham Boulevard, Raleigh Road, South Road and Columbia Street to navigate to different parts of campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. During the closure, Chapel Hill Transit will detour its CCX and RU routes — but will still send buses down Stadium Drive. Pedestrian detours will be marked on site, chiefly sending foot traffic down the sidewalks that run alongside Karen Shelton Stadium and the north side of Ridge Road.
The recommended traffic detour while Ridge Road is closed at Avery Residence Hall and Boshamer Stadium. (Photo via UNC Facilities and Services.)
The Avery Residence Hall renovation is addressing a variety of structural upgrades for the building, which has been closed to student housing since work began this fall. UNC is building a new ADA-accessible elevator tower, updated lounge and community kitchen spaces on each floor, a new outdoor social space, and accessible walkways while also tackling HVAC, window and roof improvements. While the project is not expected to be finished until summer 2025, the Ridge Road is projected to reopen in early January.
Avery Residence Hall on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, taken before renovation began in the fall of 2024. (Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Over in Carrboro, the town is progressing on the development around the Drakeford Library Complex at 203 South Greensboro Street and has some accompanying roadwork. While East Braxton Foushee Street — a helpful east-west cut-through for traffic — will re-open to two-way traffic for the first time in months, the Maple Avenue extension running by the project will be closed starting on Monday, Dec. 2.
A release from the local government said the closure is for regrading and repaving of the road, which is expected to take about four weeks. Carrboro said access to houses on Maple Avenue, as well as the houses and businesses on East Braxton Foushee Street and the parking lot off the road, will be maintained through the closure. Braxton Foushee Street and Roberson Street are also the best way to detour the work to Maple Avenue Extension.
The update comes as the Drakeford Library Complex inches closer to being ready to open. After the approval of its name by Orange County earlier in November, the town and county governments said a grand opening for the facility is tentatively scheduled for February 2025, with more details to be shared with the public as final detailing progressing. The $42 million project between Carrboro and Orange County will add a new wing of the Orange County Public Library, office space for town departments, a public parking deck and more to the downtown block. The latest community update shared on the facility said carpet installation and painting were completed in the month of October — while sidewalks, curbs, landscape lighting and the fire alarm systems were among the priorities for contractors in November.
A 2021 rendering of the 203 Project, now known as the Drakeford Library Complex, at the intersection of South Greensboro Street and East Braxton Foushee Street. (Photo via Town of Carrboro.)
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