The N.C. Department of Transportation on Thursday evening will close northbound Interstate 85 Business where it splits off from Interstate 85 in Davidson County to allow crews to institute a traffic-pattern shift.
The work will take place from 8 p.m. Thursday through 6 a.m. Friday, weather permitting. The closure is necessary to shift traffic patterns on I-85 Business prior to construction of a new ramp.
The right lane of the I-85 North near the ramp will be closed at 8 p.m. Thursday, leaving the northbound I-85 Business ramp open until midnight. At midnight, crews will close the exit to northbound I-85 Business to perform the traffic shift. All lanes will reopen by 6 a.m. Friday.
Motorists traveling on I-85 intending to access I-85 Business will follow a signed detour to the Linwood Exit (Exit 88), make a left turn and follow Hargrave Road for about a mile before merging onto I-85 Business North. Law enforcement officers will be present to assist traffic flow.
Drivers may also take Old Salisbury Road (Old US 29/70), which runs parallel to I-85, as an alternate route. The closure should not cause significant traffic congestion.
NCDOT encourages drivers to go slow and allow additional time to reach their destinations safely while traveling near the work zone. Throughout construction, traffic flow can be monitored on the project website at http://www.i-85yadkinriver2.com/camera.html.
The work is part of the northern segment of NCDOT’s I-85 Corridor Improvement Project, the state’s number-one mobility initiative, and is necessary to accommodate interstate widening along the corridor.
NCDOT broke ground in September 2010 on the southern segment of the I-85 Corridor Improvement project, which involves replacing eight bridges, widening 3.3 miles of I-85 and reconstructing the N.C. 150 interchange. The northern segment extends the interstate widening by an additional 3.8 miles, from north of N.C. 150 to just north of I-85 Business. Work on both phases is concurrent and should be complete by May 2013.
For more information on both phases of the $201.5 million project, visit http://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.