Master Plan of Wedington Corridor Unveiled

A master plan of the Wedington Corridor in Fayetteville unveiled Thursday night.

Ideas and suggestions from the community come together in one design for the area. For the last week there have been several public input sessions.

One idea discussed was adding more small businesses to the area.

“A hardware store was one that people really wanted, dry cleaner was another one, just a lot of small businesses. They really weren’t interested in seeing big box chain retail in this area,” says Peter Nierengarten, Director of Sustainability and Strategic Planning for the City of Fayetteville.

Traffic congestion an issue on the road, but plans for a roundabout could help.

“Here’s our roundabout that replaces the two lights at the intersection of I-540 and Wedington on the west side so that will improve the flow of traffic, we got continuous flow there,” adds Nierengarten.

Another topic of discussion is safety, five lanes in heavy traffic makes getting across Wedington Drive difficult.

“It’s certainly a big concern in safety  for just people walking in the area. There a lot of people that walk around this area along Wedington and ride bicycles,” adds Andrew Garner, City of Fayetteville Senior Planner.

A median in the middle of Wedington Drive hopes to make accessibility across the street easier for drivers and pedestrians.

“What it does is defines the access points to safe places and so that way when you’re driving you know set places where you’re going to be turning,” explains Garner.

And some community members want a place to call the heart of Wedington Corridor, which will have green space for community events.

“Our plan develops a location that is northwest of the intersection of Wedington and Rupple Road, it has a big green that can be used for a farmers market or other community events and has a plaza building,” says Nierengarten.

The master plan will be presented to City Council January 2013 for approval.