Shannon Price came up with her business idea in a traffic jam. As WCNC reported this year, the Mooresville resident now sells shirts, hats and cups featuring what she calls the town's official bird, the construction crane, and its official flower, the traffic cone. Asked where the idea came from, she told the station, "Sitting in traffic." Her shop, Ellie Bub Designs, sells "Official Bird of Mooresville" decals alongside the apparel.
The crane may soon have another stretch of road near Morrison Plantation. NCDOT project R-5100B will widen Williamson Road from Brawley School Road to N.C. 150, a run of 0.772 miles. The design work for that stretch is finished. The start date now depends on getting power lines and other utilities out of the way, and on a construction calendar that overlaps with the N.C. 150 rebuild next door.
The Design Work Finished Years Ago
NCDOT's project page for the Williamson Road widening shows how far along the project is. The environmental document was signed in September 2018. Right-of-way plans were completed and land acquisition began in June 2019. Final plans were done in spring 2025.
So the road has been fully designed for more than a year. What's left is construction, and that's where the dates have kept shifting.
| Milestone | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental document signed | September 2018 | NCDOT project page |
| Right-of-way plans complete, acquisition begins | June 2019 | NCDOT project page |
| Final plans complete | Spring 2025 | NCDOT project page |
| Construction moved from FY 2026 to FY 2027 | Approved July 8, 2026 | NCDOT Board of Transportation |
| Final plans, specifications and estimate due to NCDOT | November 10, 2026 | NCDOT tentative letting list |
| Tentative letting, when bids are opened | February 16, 2027 | NCDOT tentative letting list |
| Construction begins | September 2027, subject to change | NCDOT project page |
The last three rows are the ones to watch. NCDOT's 12-month tentative letting list puts R-5100B in the Tuesday, February 16, 2027 letting. The final plans package was due November 10, 2026, after a review date of October 27. The project page, which was last updated February 16, 2026, shows construction starting in September 2027 and says that date is subject to change.
Why Utilities Pushed the Date
The schedule changed this summer. At its July 8, 2026 meeting, the NCDOT Board of Transportation approved a revision to the state's 2026–2035 transportation improvement program. The minutes give the reason in one line:
"To allow additional time for utility relocation, delay construction from FY 26 to FY 27."
Anyone who drove Williamson Road in the spring saw that work start. In late May, the Charlotte Observer reported that the town had received calls about what looked like construction on Williamson. "It's NCDOT. They're doing utility relocations there," Town Manager Tracey Jerome told the Board of Commissioners. Mooresville Water Resources Director Kevin Blayton explained that Duke Energy and other companies were moving their lines away from the road ahead of the widening.
That job isn't finished on paper. On the current letting list, the utility agreement and utility certification for R-5100B are both still marked pending. Right-of-way certification is marked in, and the municipal agreement is listed as in as well. So the land and the design are in place. The poles and lines along the shoulder are what's left.
The estimate has gone up during that time. In the Observer's May 29 story, an NCDOT spokesperson put this segment at $10.5 million. NCDOT's latest preliminary estimate, dated July 29, 2026, is $13.6 million. That's about $3.1 million more for the same 0.772 miles, in roughly two months.
What the Finished Road Includes
The design hasn't changed through any of this. According to NCDOT's project page, R-5100B will include:
- Two through lanes in each direction from Brawley School Road to where the N.C. 150 project begins
- A median along that stretch
- A new traffic signal at Williamson Road and Joe Knox Avenue
- Sidewalks where none exist today, depending on an agreement between the Town of Mooresville and NCDOT
The letting list describes the construction work as curb and gutter, drainage, grading, pavement markings, paving, sidewalk, signing and traffic signal upgrades. NCDOT says the purpose is to reduce congestion and improve safety in the corridor.
The new Joe Knox Avenue signal is the change you'll notice most day to day, because it's the one intersection on this stretch where the project adds something that isn't there now.
The Rest of Williamson Road Comes After
R-5100B is the shorter phase. The second phase, R-5100A, runs from Brawley School Road down to I-77 Exit 33 at the lake. In May, the NCDOT spokesperson told the Observer that phase was expected to cost $74.3 million, with a contract scheduled for fall 2027. In August, the NCDOT Board's project list showed a request for $700,000 more in preliminary engineering funds for R-5100A, on top of the $5,121,504 already approved.
Together, the two phases widen all of Williamson Road to four lanes with a median and sidewalks. The shorter segment near Morrison Plantation is scheduled first, and the larger, more expensive segment toward the lake follows.
N.C. 150 Will Still Be Under Construction
Williamson Road's north end meets the N.C. 150 project (R-2307B and I-5717), a $249 million widening that started in 2025 and is targeted for completion in 2030. The R-5100B description says the Williamson widening runs "to the project limits of R-2307B at N.C. 150," so the two projects meet end to end. The rebuilt Exit 36 interchange will carry ten lanes.
Work at the interstate has been going on for more than a year. The Iredell Free News reported that I-77 lane closures for the new bridge at N.C. 150 began Monday, July 14, 2025. The bridge is being built in phases: eastbound lanes first, then westbound, ending with a 160-foot-wide, ten-lane bridge that replaces the old one. This year the work has included storm drainage. NCDOT's June 2, 2026 release scheduled overnight Talbert Road closures from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a detour on N.C. 150, Corporate Center Drive and Oates Road.
WCNC reported that paving had begun between U.S. 21 and I-77. NCDOT expects work on the new N.C. 150 bridge over Lake Norman to begin by early 2027 and the first segment of the widening to be finished in spring 2030.
Bids for Williamson Road are tentatively set for February 2027, close to when the Lake Norman bridge work is expected to start, and the Williamson project page shows construction beginning in September 2027. All of that falls within the N.C. 150 schedule that runs to 2030. "It just seems like everything is culminating at once," resident Shannon Price told WCNC.
Dates Between Now and 2030
These are the dates on NCDOT's own schedules, and all of them can still change:
- February 16, 2027. R-5100B is in NCDOT's tentative bid letting, based on a $13.6 million estimate.
- Early 2027. NCDOT expects work on the N.C. 150 bridge over Lake Norman to begin.
- September 2027. The R-5100B project page shows construction starting on Williamson Road between Brawley School Road and N.C. 150.
- Fall 2027. The contract for R-5100A, from Brawley School Road to Exit 33, is scheduled to be awarded.
- Spring 2030. The first segment of the N.C. 150 widening is targeted for completion.
You can sign up for NCDOT's email updates on the R-5100B project page. For a reminder of the places along Morrison Plantation Parkway worth stopping at while traffic works itself out, see our earlier post on the half-mile stretch that turned Morrison Plantation into its own downtown.
I've lived in the Lake Norman area since 2005, and road projects like these shape how a neighborhood works long before anyone moves in or out. If you'd like to talk about what the Williamson Road and N.C. 150 schedules could mean for your plans in Morrison Plantation, Preston Realty Group is happy to go over it with you. Let's Connect.
