Garner Gets $850,000 Federal Award for Jones Sausage Road Safety Upgrades

Garner officials and U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross announced a $850,000 federal community-project award on July 27, 2026, for planned improvements along Jones Sausage Road and the East Garner Road area.

The Town of Garner is the recipient of the award. The funding is intended to support safety, pedestrian access, transit accommodations and traffic improvements along a corridor that connects Amazon workers with East Garner Road and nearby current and planned development.

What the project is expected to include

Plans call for adding a northbound lane on part of Jones Sausage Road, along with sidewalks, curb ramps and pedestrian push buttons. The project also includes a bus-stop boarding pad and additional turn lanes near the East Garner Road intersection and the Amazon access segment.

A greenway connection is part of the broader plan as well. The Town of Garner says that connection would link toward a planned 75-acre park and a recently approved mixed-use development, giving pedestrians and cyclists another way to reach the area as surrounding projects move forward.

The improvements are planned for a corridor used by employees traveling to Amazon and by people accessing nearby roads, businesses and development sites. For residents, the project could eventually mean safer crossings, better sidewalk continuity and improved turning movements. For transit users, the boarding pad is intended to make bus access more practical at the planned stop.

The project is still in design

The federal award does not mean construction is about to begin. The Town of Garner’s Jones Sausage Road North project page lists the work as being in the design phase.

Right-of-way acquisition is anticipated in late 2026, but that step depends on authorization from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The town has not presented construction as scheduled or imminent, and additional approvals and project steps remain before a firm construction timetable can be established.

The town’s agreement with NCDOT identifies the Garner location, the East Garner Road intersection work and the segment providing access toward Amazon. That agreement provides the framework for the federally assisted project, but it does not establish that the $850,000 award will fully fund every part of the broader corridor work.

What residents should watch next

The next milestones are design completion, NCDOT authorization, right-of-way acquisition and additional approvals. A future construction schedule will depend on those steps and on the full funding picture for the project.

For now, the award represents funding toward a planned set of transportation and access improvements rather than a completed road project. Residents near Jones Sausage Road should expect more design and property-acquisition activity before construction dates become clear.

Sources

• Town of Garner Jones Sausage Road North project page
• U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross FY2026 Community Project Funding page
• ABC11 report on Garner's Jones Sausage Road funding announcement