Tired of traffic in SW Durham? A new road is coming. | Durham Herald Sun

Drivers in southwest Durham will have another route to get to Jordan High School and the Woodcroft Shopping Center now that a road extension has been approved.

But it will still be years before the road opens.

The Durham City Council approved a grant agreement Monday night that will bring the first phase of federal money for the Woodcroft Parkway extension, which will connect Garrett and Hope Valley roads.

Council member Charlie Reece said the extension will relieve pressure “on the kind of rat’s nest” constellation of intersections in that area of southwest Durham.

There are almost 2,000 students at Jordan High School, which is located where the Woodcroft Parkway extension will meet Garrett Road.

The extension will meet Hope Valley Road at the Woodcroft Shopping Center. Garrett and Hope Valley roads also intersect south of the planned parkway extension near another intersection with N.C. 54.

The average daily traffic on that section of Hope Valley Road between Woodcroft Parkway and Garrett Road intersections is 20,195 vehicles. For Garrett Road between Jordan High and Hope Valley Road, the average daily traffic is 19,000 vehicles.

“Garrett Road is no picnic either,” Reece said.

A map of the route presented at the council’s last work session showed the general route of the parkway extension. The alignment, determined in the design phase, should not interfere with Garrett Road Park.

Federal funds through N.C. Department of Transportation total $633,000, with another 20 percent of that – $158,250 – matched by Durham. That’s just for the design, environmental documentation, right of way acquisition and utility location. The total cost from the city for the project will be $4.2 million along with $2 million from the State Transportation Improvement Program.

The planning and design phase of the parkway extension will start this spring, and construction is expected to be finished by 2025.