The N.C. Department of Transportation will be closing ramps on I-85 North and South at Poplar Tent Road (Exit 52) in Concord beginning at 9 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday, weather permitting. Ramp closures will continue each night through Friday morning, April 20.
During the closures, crews with Lane Construction will be installing pipes and strengthening the ramps with three to four feet of additional asphalt.
Motorists who normally take the Poplar Tent Road exit can do the following:
Traveling I-85 North: Take George Liles Parkway (Exit 54), turn right and follow back to Poplar Tent Road; or
Traveling I-85 South: Take Bruton Smith Boulevard (Exit 49), turn right and follow to Derita Road. Turn right and follow back to Poplar Tent Road.
The work is part of the $125.2 million project to widen 6.8 miles of I-85 from four to eight lanes from south of Bruton Smith Boulevard to north of N.C. 73. The project will feature diverging diamond interchanges (DDI) at Poplar Tent Road and N.C. 73. A visualization of the DDI can be seen here. The project is scheduled for completion in November 2013.
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.