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With the Red Cross Town Council, Oakboro’s town commissioners recently approved a resolution asking the state’s Department of Transportation to consider a roundabout in a spot which affects traffic to both municipalities.

The intersection is on N.C. Highway 205 and Big Lick Road/Liberty Hill Church Road.

According to the presentation made by N.C. Rep. Wayne Sasser at the September meeting of the Stanly County Economic Development Commission, the intersection is scheduled by DOT to get a traffic light. However, in a later interview, Sasser said the DOT will build a double roundabout. The double roundabout is needed to accommodate a minimum of 12 transfer trucks a day heading for the new Charlotte Pipe and Foundry site.

The resolution Oakboro passed stated the DOT has proposed a roundabout for the intersection. It further states DOT, per North Carolina General Statute, requires affected municipalities to be notified and within 45 days sign a resolution “expressing their views on the same.”

Per DOT policy, a four-way stop can go into the intersections before a roundabout is built. According to Sean Epperson, Division Project Engineer for DOT, the department is not required to do a signal or four-way stop but can be used as interim measures. (Note: This paragraph was edited from a previous version to include updated information from the DOT.)

Roundabouts can take three years to build, but one of the first steps is to get resolutions of support from the municipalities in question.

Sasser, at the EDC meeting, noted he had raised $500,000 from the North Carolina General Assembly, while N.C. Sen. Carl Ford had raised the same from the Senate. The remaining funds will be raised by DOT.