Kill Devil Hills finishes West Martin Street repaving and installs new sidewalk to improve school routes

A town staff member said the town began work on West Martin Street in September to repave the road, upgrade water infrastructure and add storm drainage, then installed a new sidewalk linking to an east Martin Street sidewalk built about four to five years earlier.

The project replaced older water valves and hydrants, added an expanded turn lane near the intersection by Walgreens, and improved pavement grades, the staff member said. Officials said the resurfacing and utility upgrades were intended to correct oxidized surface asphalt and extend the street’s service life by roughly 25 years.

A commissioner said the sidewalk component was the most important part of the project, noting the Kill Devil Hills Board of Commissioners has prioritized pedestrian access for more than a decade. "I'd say that the sidewalk was the most important...this neighborhood ... has one of the highest percentages of year-round full-time populations, which means school children," the commissioner said, adding that the nearby three-school complex makes safe walking routes especially important.

Town officials said the work combined two earlier goals: a 2022 street-committee analysis that rated Martin Street ‘‘poor’’ and a planning objective to complete an east–west sidewalk. "So, we put the two together and improved a poor street, added a sidewalk," a town staff member said.

Officials also described strong early use of the sidewalk and praised staff communication during construction. "Seeing it in use right now it's getting triple what I thought it would. People are using it for connectivity between not only the schools and the neighborhoods to our south, but they're also using it for the connectivity to the library, parks," the commissioner said, and added that staff kept residents informed at every step.

Town staff said later this year the town will continue sidewalk expansion on West First Street and East First Street; that work was scheduled to begin in September and is intended to connect Bay Drive, Canal Drive and an existing multi-use path to the ocean. Officials said the expansion will allow west-side residents to walk from sound to ocean.

No votes or formal motions were recorded in the discussion. The town described the project as combining pavement, drainage and utility work with the pedestrian upgrades to limit neighborhood disruption by fixing all known issues while crews were in the area.