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GREENSBORO — The winding, rolling Horse Pen Creek Road is due for a $20 million-plus renovation.

But it will be a few months before residents will see how the city plans to fix the congested thoroughfare.

About 300 residents showed up at the St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church on Thursday night to check out the options city planners are considering for the 3.4-mile road-widening project.

City project planners will go back with a proposed design for the road in two to three months, acting Transportation Director Adam Fischer said.

The city hopes to begin construction within five years.

The project is one item on the $134 million list approved by voters in November 2008.

The northwest Greensboro road runs from New Garden Road to Battleground Avenue.

The two-lane road is peppered with subdivisions, schools, churches and recreation facilities.

A city report found the road carries up to 18,700 cars a day. That busy corridor is estimated to increase to 24,000 cars daily in the next 25 years as development and growth of the area continues.

It has 25 intersections, but few traffic signals.

A study of the road recommended widening it to two lanes in either direction. The city is recommending bikes lanes and sidewalks, too.

That was a relief for area residents, who said rush hour can be a nightmare for motorists and treacherous for cyclists or pedestrians.

The project could include a landscaped median, at an estimated $26 million or a five-lane road with center turn lanes at $23 million.

The city staff will make its recommendation depending on which items residents like best.

On Thursday night, city staff surveyed residents, asking for their opinions. The crowd was split about which alternative was better.

Residents who lived on side streets, like Mike Evans of Gray Bluff Court, didn’t like the idea of being blocked off by the median.

“In this alternative, you get a lot of cut-off streets,” Evans said.

Some liked the flexibility of the center turn lane, as well as the cheaper price.

But others said a tree-lined median, like the ones on Market Street, might be nice.

“If you’re going to do all this work, you might as well make it aesthetically pleasing,” said neighbor Carla Marion. “If you are biking, it is nice to not have all that concrete.”

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com