Starting Wednesday, drivers who usually cut across U.S. 74 at North Academy Street and Lattimore Road are in for a long detour. Crews are closing both local roads near the highway and getting to work on turning the at-grade crossing into a full-fledged interchange just outside Mooresboro. The project calls for a new bridge over U.S. 74 that will connect Lattimore Road and North Academy Street, plus new ramps that will tie the local streets into the highway. Construction activity is expected to take about a year, with county officials saying the upgrade is designed to smooth out traffic flow and cut down on crash-prone conflict points at the busy junction.
Closures and detours
North Academy Street and Lattimore Road will stay closed near U.S. 74 for roughly one year while crews build the bridge and ramps, and drivers are being told to follow marked detour routes. The county has laid out alternate paths for both roads, including connections via Peachtree Road for Lattimore Road and a series of local connectors for North Academy Street, to keep traffic moving while construction is underway, according to a Cleveland County Government Facebook post. Officials are urging motorists to budget extra time for trips and to follow work-zone signs and directions from crews to help protect both workers and other drivers.
Why the upgrade is happening
The interchange is part of Project R-4045, a roughly 1.2-mile upgrade of U.S. 74 between Mooresboro and the Shelby Bypass that is intended to bring this stretch up to freeway standards, replace structurally deficient bridges over Sandy Run Creek and address a history of frontal-impact crashes at the Academy and Lattimore intersection, according to NCDOT's project page. That page lists an estimated construction cost of about $45.2 million and total funded costs of around $61.8 million. Engineers say that closing driveway access along the corridor and replacing the aging bridges are key pieces of the long-term safety and traffic-flow improvements.
Who's building it and what it will cost
Charlotte-based contractor E.S. Wagner Company LLC is listed as the prime builder on the job and has previously handled phases of the U.S. 74 Shelby Bypass. County officials and local reporting place the project estimate at roughly $53 million, a figure highlighted in coverage by The Shelby Star. The different dollar amounts appear to reflect the way costs are broken out, such as a construction line item compared with broader funded costs and right-of-way expenses, rather than any change in the project’s scope.
Where to get updates
Drivers can expect work-zone restrictions, flaggers and occasional lane shifts on U.S. 74 while construction is in progress. Real-time travel and detour details are available at DriveNC or through NCDOT’s social media channels. County officials say they will post periodic project updates on their own social pages as milestones are reached, and anyone with technical questions can contact NCDOT’s Division 12 office in Shelby.
