🗞️ Kernersville's new BMX race park could be the first of its kind in the region

🗞️ Forsyth County drivers are hitting more deer as fall mating season ramps up

🗞️ New business park off Tyner Road brings jobs near Kernersville

🗞️ Drought's grip tightens, but relief may come this weekend

☀️ Sunny and very warm | High: 90°F | Low: 67°F

Friday brings plenty of sunshine and a hot, late-summer feel, with a high near 90 and winds staying light. Skies hold mostly clear through the day, but keep an eye out overnight: a cold front is expected to move through Friday evening, with a real shot at scattered showers and cooler, more seasonable air arriving for the weekend. Overnight low around 67.

Kernersville's Board of Aldermen voted earlier this month to move forward with the first phase of design for a new adaptive all-wheel race park, a project that would give riders on BMX bikes, scooters, skateboards and adaptive wheelchairs a purpose-built place to ride. If it's built as planned, it would be the first park of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic and only the fifth in the country.

The town is partnering with USA BMX, Visit Winston-Salem's sports tourism arm, and design firm Action Sports Design on the project. "This facility can give young riders a place to build confidence and see a pathway from recreational riding to competitive sport," said Justin Travis, USA BMX's business development director.

The park is still in the design phase, with no groundbreaking date set, but town officials see it as a chance to put Kernersville on the map for adaptive sports and outdoor recreation.

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Kernersville-area driver Curtis Nance says he passes dead deer regularly along Ebert Road, Fraternity Church Road, Old Salisbury Road and Darwick Road, and he's hit two himself this year, one crash costing him $3,000 in damage, the other $2,000.

He's not alone. NCDOT's 2022-2024 animal crash data ranks Forsyth County 13th in the state with 1,284 reported animal crashes, about 90% of them involving deer. Fall is the riskiest stretch: wildlife biologist April Boggs Pope with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said young bucks are leaving home for the first time and older bucks grow less cautious during mating season.

Nance wants NCDOT to add deer-crossing warning signs where crashes keep happening. In the meantime, drivers are urged to slow down and stay alert at dawn and dusk, especially on rural stretches near wooded areas.

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The first building at Sandy Ridge Business Center, a new business park developed by a group of Kernersville investors, is now fully leased. The 22,000-square-foot building near Piedmont Triad International Airport is home to three companies: Motion Industries, TA Wellness and TK Elevator Corp.

Motion Industries, which provides conveyor belt services, expects to bring around 20 jobs to its 14,000-square-foot space. TK Elevator has about 30 technicians working out of its unit, and TA Wellness handles distribution for an energy drink brand. "Location is the primary attraction, since they're only a quarter mile from I-40," said co-owner Michael Hunter. "So, it's a really easy access point for them."

A second 22,000-square-foot building is planned if enough tenants commit, and developers see even more potential nearby with JetZero's planned aircraft manufacturing facility in the area.

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Hot, dry weather has kept much of the area in a serious drought heading into fall. Parts of northwest Guilford County and central Rockingham County near Kernersville are now in exceptional drought, the worst category, while northern Guilford and northeast Forsyth County sit in extreme drought. Most of Forsyth County remains in severe drought.

September brought more 90-degree days and only scattered showers, and reservoirs like Kerr Lake and Falls Lake keep dropping. Kerr Lake is now roughly 10 feet below its normal target level.

There's some hope on the horizon: a cold front expected Friday evening could bring scattered rain and cooler, more seasonable temperatures into next week.

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