Blythe wins NCDOT's $40.1 million Rogers Road bridge over the S-Line, 8% under the estimate

Eight contractors bid at NCDOT's Oct. 20 letting, Railway Supply reported from the department's results. Blythe came in at $40,085,604.19. FSC II LLC, doing business as Fred Smith Company, bid $42,481,018.50. They were the only two under the estimate. The high bid, from S T Wooten Corporation, was $54,473,489.36, about 36% above Blythe.

The job replaces the at-grade crossing with a bridge at the existing location and moves Heritage Branch Road to meet Capital Creek Drive about a quarter mile east, NCDOT said. Scope covers widening, grading, drainage, paving, signals and structures. The design calls for two 12-foot lanes each way, a 12-foot left-turn lane, 5½-foot sidewalks, retaining walls at both ends and a 108-inch pipe in place of the 96-inch culvert under the road. Rogers Road stays open during construction, with traffic moved to temporary lanes at times, The News & Observer reported. NCDOT expects cars on the bridge by fall 2030.

The crossing carried about 23,936 vehicles a day in 2022 and roughly 100 school buses on a school day, according to the federal crossing record cited by Railway Supply. NCDOT says it is working with Wake County Public Schools on bus routes, crossings and campus access.

Rogers Road is one of four S-Line grade separations in Wake County; the other three are in Raleigh, at Durant Road, East Millbrook Road and New Hope Church Road. The state is developing the S-Line as a passenger corridor from Raleigh to Richmond, Virginia. In October the Federal Railroad Administration freed up $550 million for the line, half of what was pledged in 2023, The News & Observer reported. NCDOT puts the full Rogers Road project at $46.2 million, of which $3.7 million goes to buying right-of-way.