NC 211: New Businesses in West End & Seven Lakes and 2027 Road Access

Medleyanna's yellow front doors and teal shutters still sit at the NC 73 corner in West End, just past the heavy equipment, with furniture out on the sidewalk and magenta planters full of bottle "trees." Harriet Wicker has run her antique business for close to 30 years. On Oct. 31, 2025, she opened four buildings and a garden around the original shop, in the middle of the widening project.

She has had company. Over the past year and a half, the stretch of NC 211 just outside the Seven Lakes gates has gained a farm-supply store, an outdoor-living showroom, a produce stand, a Japanese restaurant and a breakfast spot under new owners. A Sheetz got county approval last week. All of it is opening along a road that NCDOT says won't be finished until Oct. 1, 2027.

The road design explains why the map matters. Once the work is done, how easily you can reach a business will depend on which full-access intersection it sits near more than on its distance from your driveway.

The Road Being Built Has Three Doors

Project R-5726 runs from NC 73 in West End to just west of Holly Grove School Road. S.T. Wooten holds the $42.7 million contract. The finished road will look like the stretch from NC 73 east toward Pinehurst that was completed in 2014: a divided four-lane highway with medians, a few full-access intersections and several U-turn bulbs.

Through the Seven Lakes and West End section, NCDOT plans to keep full access at three intersections:

1. Love Grove Church Road
2. Seven Lakes Drive
3. NC 73

Between those three points, the median will decide which way you can turn. At Seven Lakes Drive, the side road will widen to three lanes, with a dedicated left-turn lane, a through lane and a dedicated right-turn lane. The Insider used a breakfast run to explain it. After a sausage biscuit at McDonald's, you will either loop back through the Seven Lakes business district or turn right onto NC 211 and use a U-turn area near Dead Man Curve Road to head east. The post office gets a left-turn lane coming in from NC 211, but drivers leaving it will only be able to turn right.

Engineers say U-turn bulbs make the whole corridor flow better. For errands, the change is that a trip you now make with one left turn may take a right, a U-turn and a return once the medians are in. The places that sit closest to one of the three full-access intersections are the easiest to reach in either direction.

The NC 73 End Is Filling Up

Look at where the newest openings are, and most of them sit near the NC 73 junction, the eastern full-access point.

Tractor Supply opened during 2025 at the corner of NC 73 and NC 211. The company lists it as store #2960 at 5307 N.C. Highway 211.

Medleyanna's, at 5357 N.C. 211, now covers several buildings:

• the original shop, which stays much as it was
• Sweet Eva Jane's, a cottage with a French country, shabby chic style
• the Design House, which is open every other month with a rotating theme
• My Sister's Garden, an outdoor space for garden hardscape
• the Boarding House, which needed repairs when the expansion opened but already had its porch open for shopping

Last December, Wicker also described plans for two garage spaces and a vintage bus to be turned into a self-serve tea room. Those were plans at the time, so call ahead before going in expecting tea.

The Patio, LDIG's 30,000-square-foot outdoor-living display and event space at 5615 N.C. 73, held its grand opening in November 2025 near the same junction.

Dewey's Veggie Vibe, at 4381 N.C. 73, came back for a second season this year and opened on April 8.

Sheetz comes next. On Sept. 22, the Moore County Board of Adjustment approved two site deviations for a Sheetz at 5364 N.C. 211, across from Medleyanna's and near Tractor Supply. It would be the county's third Sheetz. The first deviation lets the fuel canopy and pumps sit at the front of the lot, closest to NC 211. The second waives the road connection to the adjacent property that the county's Highway Corridor Overlay District normally requires. The coverage gives no opening date.

Wicker explained her reason for expanding in terms that fit this corner well.

"People want to stop and go to more than one place."

She told the Insider she suspected people might not go out of their way for a single store, so she set out to build somewhere you could spend an afternoon. Her shop, Tractor Supply, the planned Sheetz, The Patio and Veggie Vibe all sit around the same full-access intersection, so that kind of multi-stop afternoon now has more stops, all reachable from one turn.

She has also been open about how she feels. "It makes me sad we're losing our small-town feel," she said. "I know the need for traffic flow. I drive that every day." Her corner shows both sides of the change. The building was once West End's second post office, and its unusually wide back door was made for mail bins. Today, Medleyanna's is the only independent, local homegoods store left on a strip that once had Pastimes, The Log Cabin Country Store and West End Antiques and More. A March 2025 Insider report said the changes along the road had shuttered several businesses, including Nardo's Barber Shop, which operated in West End for 75 years, and the Log Cabin Country Store with its lawn ornaments, while West End Antiques and More and Pastimes Antiques relocated.

The Seven Lakes Drive End Runs on Private Roads

At the western end of the business area, the newest arrival sits back from the highway. Teriyaki Express opened July 13 at 135 Mac Dougall Drive and held its ribbon-cutting on Aug. 11. Owners Jesus and Nicky Lopez opened their first Teriyaki Express in Sanford in 2020 and went looking for a smaller space. Nicky told the Sandhills Sentinel that the front porch "has a nice vibe, and people can sit out there and listen to music." Sauces are made in-house, including teriyaki, ginger and yum yum, and the kitchen cuts its own meat. The Teriyaki Delight is a two-plate sampler with chicken, steak, shrimp and scallops. The Family Meal feeds four to five people. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

On the highway itself, the restaurant at 4375 N.C. Highway 211 became 7 Lakes Cafe on April 1. The cafe stayed open through the change. The spot had previously run as GreeneBow's and then Mac's Anytime Breakfast.

The roads inside the business area work differently from the highway. Trade Street and MacDougall Drive are private roads maintained by the Seven Lakes Business Guild. NCDOT takes no responsibility for extra wear from drivers who cut through to avoid construction. That same loop through the business district is one of the two routes in the McDonald's example, so these Guild-maintained streets will remain a regular part of getting around once the medians are in. In January, the county discussed a possible sanitary district to pay for upgrades to roads, stormwater and sewer in the business district. That step would need legislation, and the second phase had no budget at the time.

Sewer Is Coming to the Shops, Not the Houses

Underneath the road work, the county is laying something new for the business district: public sewer. Moore County Public Works is installing it alongside the widening. The plan uses gravity lines behind the Food Lion and West End Elementary School, a pump station behind the school, and a 10-inch force main that carries wastewater east toward Pinehurst. From there it goes to Pinebluff for treatment. Grant Street and MacDougall Drive are first in line for service. LKC designed the system, and the county expects it to finish on the same schedule as the road.

For homeowners, the key line is short. The county has no plan to extend sewer to the residential areas of Seven Lakes North, South or West. Business hookups will be voluntary, and businesses that connect will pay connection and monthly usage fees.

The new sewer also won't reach every new business. Sheetz's attorney told the county that the original site plan met the code, but the design had to change because the lot needs a septic system. The area is set to get public sewer, but this site can't tie directly into the planned force main. The space the septic system needs is why the pumps moved to the front of the lot.

What Is Left Before the Road Is Done

As of NCDOT's May 2026 update, crews were working from Seven Lakes toward West End, and the project had seen no major delays or speed-ups. Officials said the first major milestone would be moving traffic onto the new alignment, and they hoped that would happen this summer. We have not found a public report confirming that shift. The most recent work notice was about Seven Lakes Drive. Between NC 211 and MacDougall Drive, the road closed nightly from Sept. 17 to 25, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., so crews could replace storm drains and crossline pipes and move waterlines. The detour went by way of NC 211, Love Grove Church Road and Carthage Road.

The highway project includes no sidewalks, since sidewalks are built only in municipalities. Seven Lakes and West End are unincorporated, so any ornamental planting in the new medians would need a private group to sign an agreement with NCDOT and post a bond. For closures before you head out, NCDOT points drivers to DriveNC.gov. Project details are on the NCDOT public input page for R-5726.

Ross Laton has lived inside the Seven Lakes gates since 1994 and has driven this stretch of NC 211 through each change. If you want to talk through how the finished corridor might affect a property near Seven Lakes Drive or NC 73, Ross Laton is glad to share what he's seeing. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.