Is the NC 86 bridge cursed? Southbound I-85 to close where a truck hit the overpass again
For the second time in nine months, a truck has hit and damaged the N.C. 86 bridge over Interstate 85 in Hillsborough, and for the second time southbound I-85 will be closed while crews fix it.
Contractors for the N.C. Department of Transportation expect to close southbound I-85 at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, for the first of several nights of repairs. The road is scheduled to reopen at 7 a.m. Monday.
The nightly closures could last a couple of weeks, according to NCDOT.
Each time, southbound I-85 traffic will be directed up the Exit 165 ramp to N.C. 86 then back on to the highway. Northbound I-85 will remain open.
N.C. 86 will also be closed in both directions while crews work on the bridge. Detour signs will direct drivers onto I-85 to the next exit, where they can turn around and return to N.C. 86 on the other side of the bridge.
A tractor-trailer carrying construction equipment hit the bridge on May 31, prompting NCDOT to close N.C. 86 in both directions. NCDOT determined it was safe to allow southbound drivers on the bridge, but northbound N.C. 86 won’t reopen until the bridge is repaired.
The cycle of closures is similar to what happened last September, after the driver of a tractor-trailer loaded with frozen chicken lost control and crashed into the bridge, flipped over and burst into flames. The 51-year-old driver from Virginia and his dog were killed.
An autopsy found that the driver had a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 — four times the state’s legal limit for impairment — when he died.
N.C. 86 was closed in both directions for several days until the bridge was repaired.
This story was originally published June 15, 2023 at 10:24 AM.
