Piedmont Natural Gas is getting ready for the population boom in Sherrills Ford with 55,800 feet of new gas lines along busy roads and intersections in the region.

Construction work is in progress along Mt. Pleasant Road, Sherrills Ford Road, Slanting Bridge Road, Molly’s Backbone, and near the intersection of N.C. 150 and N.C. 16.

The project is at least two months from being completed and the county is also due to start laying water and sewer lines in some of the same areas in June or July, traffic will become a problem, Robert Sherrill, transportation technician with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, said.

“Sherrills Ford (Road) is probably the worst,” he said, based on the heavy traffic that goes through the area.  More than 6,000 cars travel the road every day.

The most extensive portion of the work is between Sherrills Ford Road and Mount Pleasant Road where 16,700 feet of line are going in.

Along some stretches of Mt. Pleasant Road work zones may stretch from 500 feet to mile or longer, he said, but the NCDOT is overseeing construction to ensure motorist safety.

“We like for them to do one long work zone,” Sherrill said.  “It keeps traffic from meandering in and out.”

Sherrill said although the crews are encouraged not to work during morning or evening rush hours, delays may be persistent around 3 or 4 in the afternoon as school let out.

“A lot of times they will wait until after 8 a.m. to begin, but in the afternoons, they just tough it out,” he said.

Piedmont Natural Gas is laying the new lines in preparation for the surge in growth in the Sherrills Ford area.

“That’s what’s driving it,” Terrie Coffey, residential representative for Piedmont Natural Gas in Sherrills Ford.

On April 16, 2007 the Catawba County Board of Commissioners approved several subdivision and commercial developments by Crescent Resources and MAG Land Development.  The Developments of Key Harbor, Terrapin Creek, Mountain Creek, and the Village Center will provide thousands of additional homes in the Sherrills Ford and Terrell.  The Key Harbor development alone will include 1,400 new single-family homes, when it’s completed while the Village Center will bring dozens of new storefronts, restaurants and condos in the fashion of Birkdale Village in Huntersville.

Although she refused to comment on the exact cost of the job, Coffey said, “This is a very expensive job, it’s a lot,” Coffey said.  “But it’s a great investment for Piedmont.”

The company plans to have the work completed and active by the end of June.

“That’s a goal we’re very close on,” she said.