The N.C. Department of Transportation will be erecting a safety barrier wall on I-85 North near Bruton Smith Boulevard (Exit 49) in Concord beginning at 9 p.m. Monday, weather permitting. Work will continue to the following night if necessary.
The barrier wall will allow crews with Lane Construction to safely perform earth moving and drainage operations in building the future I-85/I-485 interchange. It will extend from mile marker 48 to Bruton Smith Boulevard, leaving two lanes open to traffic. The contractor anticipates leaving the barrier wall in place through November.
This work is part of the $92.2 million project to convert the existing I-85/I-485 interchange to a turbine interchange, the first of its kind in North Carolina. Along with this project, NCDOT and Lane Construction are working to widen 6.8 miles of I-85 from north of Bruton Smith Boulevard to north of N.C. 7 (Exit 55) in Cabarrus County.
The $125.2 million project will feature two diverging diamond interchanges at Poplar Tent Road (Exit 52) and N.C. 73. The Department and Blythe Construction are also building the final 5.7 miles of the I-485 Outer Loop, which will have a diverging diamond interchange at Mallard Creek Road.
NCDOT reminds motorists to watch signs for construction information, stay alert and obey the posted speed limit.
For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone.