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WENTWORTH — Town officials learned this week their share of the cost for improving traffic flow around a new county courthouse under construction.

The town plans to spend about $100,000 to reconfigure the intersection of N.C. 65 and N.C. 87 and to construct a second entrance and access road to the county judicial center.

The town is considering spending $34,000 more to add a concrete pedestrian island at the intersection and build a sidewalk on the access road, which would run behind Fidelity Bank. Officials ultimately want to connect the access road to Peach Tree Road as part of the creation of a future central business district.

The council reviewed the results of a $6,000 study of the courthouse’s impact on transportation during a meeting on Tuesday. Town administrator Brenda Ward said Wentworth officials learned of possible improvements several months ago and will discuss funding at a budget work session in April.

“I don’t see it as being a burden on the town right now,” Ward said. “We have enough in our fund balance. We try to be frugal with the taxpayers’ money.”

Officials estimate the new road and intersection will cost $465,000, with $100,000 each coming from Wentworth and the state Department of Transportation and the rest coming from the county. Thomas Wiggins, the county planning director, said the project is still in the design stage and should be done by the time the new courthouse opens in December. The jail is expected to open in August.

“We definitely need to have it (the road) open for December 2010,” Wiggins said. “We’re not going to delay the opening of the judicial center because the road’s not open.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Wentworth council members also discussed a long-range transportation plan completed by the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. The recommendations, which the council could approve in April, include expanding portions of N.C. 65 and N.C. 87, and adding paved shoulders or edge lines for cyclists on portions of those highways as well as Sandy Cross Road, Berrymore Road and Wentworth Street.

Wentworth leaders also are considering improving services by covering some of the costs to install a 12-inch water line along N.C. 65 from the Wentworth Fire Department to County Home Road.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey@news-record.com