East Boiling Spring Road Now Waits on Pine Lake Dam Alone

East Boiling Spring Road has been closed since July 2023. Crews shut it at N. Lake Drive on Monday, July 17, and then at Pine Lake Dam on Monday, July 24, when the city's FEMA-funded dam reconstruction moved onto the dams the road crosses. As of this week, the closure has run for about 40 months. The City of Boiling Spring Lakes' road closure page now lists it in one line: "E. Boiling Spring Rd. is closed at Pine Lake Dam."

Upper Lake has been full since summer. North Lake Dam was impounded on October 5. Out of four dams, only Pine Lake Dam stands between the road and reopening. It is also the dam whose design had to be corrected in mid-construction, so it is the dam everyone in town ends up watching.

Four Dams, One Road

The city's October and November manager's reports give the clearest current picture of where each dam stands.

The city has stated the dependency outright. At the September 17, 2026 citizens forum, a resident asked when East Boiling Spring Road would reopen. According to the forum minutes, City Manager Matthew Kirkland said it would open once the Pine Lake Dam project is complete, and Commissioner Todd Ausborn said completion is projected for the first quarter of 2027.

Sanford Dam is the larger construction site, but it does not hold up the road. The road is waiting on Pine Lake.

Why Pine Lake Ended Up Last

Pine Lake was not originally supposed to be the bottleneck. In June 2025, WECT reported that the city had paused work at the Pine Lake Dam site. After rainfall on June 14, Pine Lake's water levels did not look right. The contractor confirmed the dam had been built to the elevation on the plans, but the city's consulting engineers found that the planned elevation was itself wrong. The city's statement, signed by then-City Manager Gordon Hargrove, said work would continue at North Lake and Sanford. It also said the city would look at paving the North Lake Dam site and at temporary measures to open the road over Pine Lake Dam.

The fix took most of a year to get under contract. At a special meeting on March 19, 2026, Hargrove told the Board of Commissioners that the dam project is entirely grant-funded and that no Boiling Spring Lakes tax dollars are being used for reconstruction. He said the city attributes the Pine Lake problem to an engineering design error and intends to hold the design team financially responsible. According to the minutes, legal counsel said that forcing the design firm to pay for the revision up front would likely lead to a long court fight and leave East Boiling Spring Road "closed indefinitely." The city chose the other path. It would pay for the revision now, using interest earned on the grant funds, which can only be spent on this project, and pursue the costs afterward. WWAY reported that commissioners approved a revised Pine Lake Dam contract of $3 million, after design and engineering delays and cost increases.

That decision explains the order of the past few months. North Lake and Upper Lake kept moving because their designs were confirmed correct. Pine Lake restarted later, under a revised plan, and the road's timeline started over with it.

What Has to Happen Before the Barricades Move

The city's May 4, 2026 Dams Reconstruction Update #19 put it in one sentence:

"East Boiling Spring Road will open when the correction is completed."

At that point the city projected the correction would run until "the end of December/January depending on weather." The city's September and October manager's reports put Pine Lake's expected completion in Q1 2027.

Taken together, the October and November reports lay out the remaining Pine Lake work in order:

1. Control of water. Installed, according to the November report.
2. Auxiliary spillway excavation. Complete as of the November report.
3. Auxiliary spillway forms. Started, and continuing over the next 30 days.
4. Spillway concrete. Pouring is scheduled to begin in the next 30-day window.
5. Gate installation. Scheduled once the concrete work is complete.
6. Pine Lake lakebed clearing. Mobilization is beginning.

At the October 6 board meeting, Mayor Jeff Winecoff asked staff to finish the Pine Lake Dam spillway work and the paving once site preparation is complete, and only then shift resources to Sanford Dam. Put simply, the board has formally put the road-carrying dam ahead of the bigger job.

The spillway concrete and the gate are the steps to watch. When the monthly manager's report says the pours are finished and the gate is in, the remaining work is paving and closeout.

The One Date Written Into a Contract

Q1 2027 is a projection. The only fixed date is in the construction contract. The October and November manager's reports both end their dam sections with the same reminder: "Contracted final completion date is May 23, 2027." That date was May 18, 2027 until September, when Change Order 11 added five days because of water restrictions at Sanford Dam. At the September forum, Kirkland said the city may seek liquidated damages from the contractor if the project is not finished by the contract date.

So the honest planning window for the road runs from early 2027, the target, to late May 2027, the contract deadline. Weather has moved this schedule before. In October 2024, Winecoff told WWAY that Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight washed out the temporary works and put the dams about 10 months behind.

In February 2025, the mayor told WECT that the road was heavily used and that reopening it would restore access for first responders. That is the official case for putting Pine Lake first, and it is the reason behind the October request to finish Pine Lake before moving to Sanford.

Meanwhile, the West End Has Its Own Closures

Drivers who leave town by the other end of Boiling Spring Road are running into a separate project. On the city's road closure page, Sunset Road and W. Boiling Spring Road are closed to through traffic from October 26 through the month of November for the PTC8 Road Washout Repair and Improvements Project. The city says detours are marked and local access is kept where possible. WECT published the same schedule on October 19.

This work has nothing to do with the dams. It rebuilds road culverts damaged by Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight, the September 2024 storm, and the city's September 1 minutes say FEMA funding covers the submitted work at no financial cost to the city. Bids were opened on July 15, 2026, and engineering firm McGill Associates recommended awards in an August 24 letter. On September 1, the Board of Commissioners split the work into three phases:

• Phase 1: Tarheel Concrete, $829,019.99
• Phase 2: Heath Grading, Inc., $295,353.00
• Phase 3: Heath Grading, Inc., $264,524.00

Sunset Road and W. Boiling Spring Road are the first work sites in a program with three phases, so more closures at other culverts are likely as the phases move along. The city posts each new location on its Projects & Road Closures page and takes calls at City Hall at (910) 363-0025.

For the rest of November, both the west end and the east end of Boiling Spring Road have work zones. The west-end closure is scheduled to end with the month. The east-end closure depends on concrete, a gate and paving at Pine Lake.

The Water Within Reach This Winter

The construction also decides where you can get onto the lakes. The city's parks page still lists the ramp and lake at North Lake Park, 29 Lakeview Dr. East, as closed. The park itself is open sunrise to sunset, with a fishing dock, bench swings, leashed pets welcome and restrooms open year-round. The Alton Lennon Park ramp at 200 Alton Lennon Rd., which serves Patricia Lake, "The Big Lake," is also still listed as closed. In November the city said it will bring a proposal for Patricia Lake lakebed clearing to the board in December.

Spring Lake Park, at 210 Pine Rd. just off E. Boiling Spring Road, is open sunrise to sunset year-round. Its launch takes kayaks and sunfish, electric-motor boats are allowed, and the city asks that no one fish from the docks, the boat ramp or the swimming area.

The town's holiday calendar is all on the open side of the closures. Railroad to the Holiday is set for November 21 and a Pancake Breakfast for December 5. The Christmas Tree Lighting is Friday, December 4, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

At Hank Troscianiec & Associates, we follow the Boiling Spring Lakes dam work report by report, because the day East Boiling Spring Road reopens changes the drive across town for everyone who lives here. If you want to talk about what the reopening means for your street or your plans, Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll go through the latest city updates with you.