Complicated Set Of I-40 Detours Under Way This Weekend

Travelers may want to take an alternate route to avoid I-40 during the lane closures. N.C. 50 and U.S. 70 can be used to get in and out of Raleigh without dealing with the construction. Motorists should expect both highways to be more crowded than normal.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, crews closed a lane on I-40 West between

Exit 312 (N.C. 42) and Exit 306 (U.S. 70)

.

At 9 p.m., crews closed a lane on I-40 East between Exit 306 (U.S. 70) and Exit 312 (N.C. 42).

At midnight, crews shifted eastbound traffic on I-40 across the median to a two-way, two-lane traffic pattern in the westbound lanes on I-40 between Exit 306 (U.S. 70) and Exit 312 (N.C. 42).

All traffic on I-40 returned to the normal traffic pattern around 12 p.m. on Saturday.

However, the closures resumed as crews temporarily closed a lane on I-40 West between Exit 312 (N.C. 42) and Exit 306 (U.S. 70).

Around 7 p.m., crews will also temporarily close a lane on I-40 East between Exit 306 (U.S. 70) and Exit 312 (N.C. 42).

At 10 p.m., crews are scheduled to temporarily shift westbound traffic on I-40 across the median to a two-way, two-lane traffic pattern in the eastbound lanes on I-40 between Exit 312 (N.C. 42) and Exit 306 (U.S. 70).

All traffic on I-40 will return to the normal traffic pattern no later than 12 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.

The crossover is necessary to set the bridge girders for the New Bethel Church Road bridge over I-40 as part of the U.S. 70 Clayton Bypass, currently under construction.

This is only one of three bridges scheduled to go up across I-40. However, construction on the other two bridges is not expected to start until August.

Closed lanes led to bottlenecks outside Raleigh early last Friday. The backups stretched for miles until the DOT reopened all lanes.