Crews will officially start construction today on the first project made possible by Gov. Bev Perdue’s new Mobility Fund. Phase two of the I-85 Corridor Improvement Project in Davidson County will widen 3.8 miles of I-85 north of the Yadkin River and reconstruct the Belmont Road interchange.
“More than 60,000 vehicles travel along this section of I-85 every day,” said Pat Ivey, N.C. Department of Transportation Division 9 engineer. “These improvements will enhance safety and help traffic flow more efficiently along this vital corridor for interstate commerce.”
NCDOT awarded the $65.5 million contract for phase two to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc./Austin Bridge & Road LP, A Joint Venture in January. Without the money made available through Gov. Perdue’s Mobility Fund, the department would not have had the resources to pay for this critical project.
In addition to improving the movement of goods and services across the state, this project will benefit North Carolina’s economy by creating or sustaining about 200 jobs, many of which will be filled with local workers. Local truckers will soon begin hauling dirt, and more will be hired to move about $5 million worth of materials used in the concrete for the project.
The Joint Venture team is also leasing local office space, staying in local hotels, using local printers and caterers, and purchasing building supplies from local vendors.
NCDOT broke ground last September on the first phase of the project, which involves replacing eight bridges and widening 3.3 miles of I-85. Phase two extends the reach of the interstate widening from north of N.C. 150 to just north of I-85 business, creating four lanes in each direction. Work on both phases will be concurrent and should be complete in 2013.
Phase two includes moving roughly 1 million cubic yards of dirt, which would fill 314 Olympic-sized swimming pools, and paving with about 117,000 tons, the equivalent of 7,800 tractor trailers, of asphalt.
The Joint Venture team will use an innovative approach to minimize the effects of transporting these materials on motorists. Rather than relying on the highway to haul them, the contractor will use new ramps built from the bridges at Clark and Belmont roads into the I-85 median, which will take 13,000 truckloads off the interstate.
For more information on both phases of the project, visit www.i-85yadkinriver.com. To receive instant updates on traffic pattern changes, construction-related congestion and project milestones, follow NCDOT’s I-85 Twitter feed, https://twitter.com/NCDOT_I85.