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Triad motorists should find it easier to navigate through eastern Forsyth County in a few years, thanks to a $30.3 million contract to widen and improve Union Cross Road in the growing industrial area once home to Dell Inc.'s computer-making plant.

State Secretary of Transportation Gene Conti awarded the contract Thursday to Larco Construction, including widening to four or more lanes a 4.2-mile stretch from Sedge Garden Road north of the Interstate 40/Union Cross interchange to just south of U.S. 311.

"The improvements will prepare for and accommodate the future residential and commercial growth anticipated for this area," Conti said in a press release.

The Dell plant closed several years ago, but the area has a bright future as a commercial and distribution hub, regional leaders say. About 25,000 cars and trucks use that part of Union Cross weekdays, a level of daily demand expected to surpass 40,000 vehicles during the next 20 years.

As part of the contract, Larco also will rebuild Union Cross' interchange at I-40 in a new design that helps drivers merge more safely and efficiently from one major road to another. The so-called "diverging diamond" design puts oncoming streams of traffic to the left of each other temporarily as they negotiate the merger.

Tests have shown the design to safely move higher volumes of traffic through interchanges. The new design will be among the first of its kind in the state, Conti said, joining another diverging diamond planned as part of the new High Point/Jamestown bypass in western Greensboro and several in Charlotte.

The Union Cross project could be under construction as soon as mid-April with completion expected by November 2015, Conti said.