BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

Construction crews closed the Interstate 85 ramps on the north side of Webb Road, at Exit 70, Monday as part of the continuing widening project.

The ramps closing are on opposite sides of the interstate – the northbound entry and the southbound exit. They will remain closed for about five weeks. Crews will then move to the ramps on the south side of Webb Road – again on opposite sides of the interstate. Those ramps also will close for about five weeks.

Sometime during this work at the new bridge, workers will close Webb Road itself, assistant resident engineer Tim Canup of the N.C. Department of Transportation said Monday.

Beginning tonight, construction also will shift I-85 traffic to inside lanes in the area of milepost 68, while construction occurs on the outside lanes. During the next three months, traffic will shift to the inside lanes in this area of N.C. 152 and U.S. 29-601.

Two lanes of traffic in each direction will remain open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the widening project. But contractors are allowed to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction during nighttime construction work.

Construction remains ahead of schedule on the first 2.7-mile segment from China Grove to Webb Road. It is supposed to be completed by the summer of 2000.

The entire 13.2-mile widening project will essentially build another interstate through much of Rowan County, expanding the number of lanes from four to eight. Price tag for the entire project is upwards of $130 million.

Construction also is under way on the project’s second segment, a 3.2-mile stretch from north of Webb Road to north of Julian Road near Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.