Bridge work will require a detour where I-40 meets the Beltline in Southeast Raleigh
If you’re headed east on Interstate 40 across the south side of Raleigh and hope to stay on the Beltline, you’ll find yourself taking a detour the next three nights.
The lanes of eastbound I-40 that lead to westbound Interstate 440 in Southeast Raleigh will be closed from midnight to 5 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
During the closure, drivers who want to get from eastbound I-40 onto I-440 will be directed to remain on I-40 out to Jones Sausage Road and then turn around back toward town.
The closures are necessary so workers can lay girders for a new bridge that will carry traffic from I-440 onto eastbound I-40. The new bridge is part of a four-year effort to widen 11 miles of I-40 between the Beltline and the N.C. 42 interchange in Johnston County.
The $330 million project started in the fall of 2018, as workers began adding two lanes to each side of I-40. Late this year, work is expected to begin on overhauling the interchange at N.C. 42, with a new traffic pattern and new ramps that will give drivers the option of getting on or off at nearby Cleveland Road.
The project isn’t expected to be completed until 2022.
