Why Pinehurst Keeps Asking NCDOT to Recount the Traffic Circle
The Village of Pinehurst and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are no longer mainly arguing about what the Traffic Circle should look like. They are arguing about how many cars it will need to carry, and when those cars show up. On September 22, Village Council approved an amendment asking NCDOT to evaluate a Turbo Hybrid design for the circle using updated traffic projections, and to measure delays "throughout the week, not just weekday peak hours."
That request is the third step in a summer-long effort to change the inputs NCDOT uses. Whatever ends up being built where US 15-501, NC 5, NC 2 and NC 211 meet will depend largely on whose numbers win.
NCDOT's current design is project U-5976 on the state transportation improvement program. It keeps the circle's look from each of its five approaches and adds landscaping and decorative plantings to soften the changes. The inside of the circle changes a great deal. A new roadway would connect NC 211 and NC 2 straight through the middle, with coordinated traffic signals at new intersections on the east and west sides. Traffic leaving the Village on Midland Road would be sent to a new signalized U-turn intersection on US 15-501 south of the circle. A separate roundabout would go in at NC 2 and Airport Road.
NCDOT's posted estimate is $80.97 million: $28.9 million for right-of-way, $970,000 for utilities and $51.1 million for construction. That figure is much higher than the roughly $50 million The Pilot reported at the October 2025 public meeting. The state's figure is the current official one, and the project page notes that estimates may change.
This design was itself a retreat. In July 2024, NCDOT held three public meetings on an earlier plan, a signalized continuous-flow layout known as the "Shifted Pillow." According to the agency, that plan produced the best traffic and safety results of anything it had studied. Residents and elected officials rejected it anyway, citing aesthetics, right-of-way impacts, how drivers would find their way through it, and a strong desire to keep the "feel" of the existing circle. NCDOT says it has evaluated more than 20 designs since 2013.
The Village's case starts with a forecast. NCDOT's earlier analysis assumed the circle would carry 80,000 vehicles a day by 2050. The Village says more recent traffic and regional population projections are lower.
| Daily vehicle projection | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| 80,000 by 2050 | NCDOT's original basis for its design |
| About 72,400 by 2050 | NCDOT's revised forecast, reported in July 2026 |
| 65,000 | The figure the Village asked NCDOT to test |
NCDOT has already moved part of the way. At the Village Council meeting on July 14, Mayor Pro Tem John Taylor reported that the agency had lowered its 2050 projection from 80,000 to about 72,400 vehicles a day. Village officials told the Sandhills Sentinel that even the revised forecast relies on outdated data and does not fully reflect newer projections of slower population growth in Moore County.
The forecast matters because NCDOT ruled out earlier options for failing to meet long-term traffic needs. That includes multi-lane roundabouts. A smaller future volume gives a less intrusive design a better chance of passing.
The Village first asked informally. Taylor told Council that Village representatives had asked NCDOT to study a "hybrid turbo" concept the Village believes could cut delays while taking less right-of-way, and to run it through the same traffic modeling as the state's preferred design, using about 65,000 vehicles a day. The agency declined. Taylor summarized the response this way:
"Their answers were, 'Your proposal is not as good as our proposal, and so we are proceeding ahead with our proposal.'"
That refusal explains everything Council has done since. Informal requests had failed, so the Village moved to formal resolutions:
The Village's own summary is clear about the limits of all three. The circle and its approaches are state-maintained, so NCDOT decides.
The September amendment changes what counts as a problem. NCDOT's project page describes the circle's trouble in terms of peak periods: "Delays of several minutes occur during peak travel times." In its summary of the amendment, the Village said Council wants a comparison that "accounts for projected traffic and delays throughout the week, not just weekday peak hours."
The difference matters for any intersection design. A plan built to clear the worst weekday rush can look very different from one judged on how it performs every hour a resident actually uses it. The Village has asked for the second kind of evaluation and has not yet received one.
Safety is the other half of NCDOT's case, and here the two sides read different evidence. The state says the circle has averaged one crash every two-plus days over the past five years. Mayor Patrick Pizzella has said that, according to Village officials, the circle has had no fatal crash in its roughly 70-year history, that most incidents are minor rear-end collisions or sideswipes, and that the bollards installed there have reduced accidents further.
Both statements can be true. The disagreement is about what kind of fix those crashes call for. Taylor has questioned the age of the traffic and crash data behind the state's plan, saying much of it predates the bollards. Council Member Hooper has said NCDOT's safety research comes almost entirely from studies of conventional roundabouts, not large traffic circles. "They have no such studies when it has to do with the circle," he said. NCDOT, for its part, maintains that modern roundabout research cannot be applied directly to a circle this large, and that the circle's size makes vehicle speeds hard to control.
Pizzella's preference is on the record. He hopes any eventual solution avoids traffic signals, keeps property acquisition to a minimum and preserves the character of the Village. NCDOT's current design includes coordinated signals and a signalized U-turn.
"Turbo" refers to lane geometry, not speed. The Federal Highway Administration describes a turbo roundabout as a multilane roundabout with spiral-shaped lane paths. Drivers pick their lane early, and raised separators discourage lane changes inside the circle. FHWA says speeds come down as a result. It also notes that American "hybrid" versions mix some Dutch turbo features with traditional roundabout elements.
The concept has come up before at this intersection. HNTB's January 2024 alternatives memo tested a shorter-term turbo/hybrid version for 2029. It would add a circulating lane around much of the circle, drop the outside lane at successive exits and keep the right-turn bypasses. No official cost estimate for the Village's Turbo Hybrid has been published.
NCDOT's posted schedule, last updated August 28, 2026, continues regardless of the Village's request:
The Pilot has reported that construction is planned between 2031 and 2033, and that NCDOT says it can build the design with minimal impact to drivers by doing the most disruptive work at night. NCDOT's own table shows a start date but no completion date.
The circle also won't be rebuilt on its own. The planned widening of US 15-501 north of the circle to NC 73 is scheduled to start after the 2029 U.S. Open alongside the circle work, so detours for both projects can happen at the same time, and to finish before the Open returns in 2035. That project adds roundabouts at Pinehurst Trace Drive and Memorial Drive, at Juniper Creek Boulevard and Forrest Drive, and at NC 73. It also converts the Spring Lake Road, Juniper Lake and Campground Road, and McCaskill Road intersections to reduced conflict intersections with U-turn bulbs. At the public input session reported by The Pilot, most of the people attending were from Pinehurst Trace, Village Acres and Pinehurst No. 6. Their concerns were walking access along the Pinehurst Greenway and to health facilities, golf cart crossings at today's signalized intersections, and noise.
NCDOT has not posted a date for answering the Turbo Hybrid request, and no new public meeting is listed. The formal comment period from the October 2025 meeting closed on November 12, 2025. The project page says comments are still accepted throughout project development. The agency has committed to sharing its upcoming noise study with the Village and to discussing bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, landscaping and aesthetics as the work moves forward. Village Council's next regular meetings are October 13 and October 27.
If you own a home near the circle or along the 15-501 corridor, a right-of-way schedule starting in August 2027 may come up in conversations with buyers well before construction starts. I've followed this project closely and I'm happy to talk through how plans like this tend to come up when a home is sold. Bill Sahadi at Fore Properties. Let's Connect.
Whether you’re buying your first home, selling a trust property, or navigating a probate sale, my goal is always the same: to provide honest guidance, strong advocacy, and a smooth experience from beginning to end. Real estate is about people, not just properties. I would be honored to help you take your next step.
BILL SAHADI
1140 US HWY 1 SOUTH SOUTHERN PINES, NC 28387