N.C. Department of Transportation contractors plan to begin replacing the bridge carrying Klumac Road over Town Creek between Jake Alexander Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard next week, closing a portion of the roadway in Salisbury.

Work will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31. The new bridge should be open by October.

The existing 54-year-old bridge is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. It is safe, but is in deteriorating condition and needed more constant repairs. It was also built to design standards no longer used, and it doesn’t meet the demands of the traffic using it.

Motorists will navigate around the work using a 1-mile detour on Jake Alexander Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

NCDOT reminds motorists to watch signs for construction information, stay alert and obey the posted speed limit.

The Klumac Road Bridge project is part of the department’s overall bridge program to improve the condition of the state’s bridges. Governor McCrory improved bridge safety by increasing repair and replacement funding by 58 percent, totaling $242 million in 2016-2017.

For real-time travel information, visit the Traveler Services section of NCDOT.gov or follow NCDOT onTwitter.

Road, bridge, and other transportation improvement projects like this one are currently underway across the state as part of Governor McCrory’s 25-Year Transportation Vision to enhance travel safety and to better connect North Carolinians to jobs, education, healthcare and recreation opportunities.