Airport Boulevard will be closed at I-40 near RDU this weekend
Airport Boulevard will be closed this weekend where it crosses Interstate 40 near Morrisville, as contractors work to rebuild the interchange.
The closure is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Friday and end early Monday morning. While drivers won’t be able to cross the bridge, all right turns on and off of I-40 at the interchange will remain open.
Drivers wishing to cross I-40 will be directed on detours that send them onto the highway to the next exit in each direction to turn around.
Northbound traffic on Airport Boulevard will take I-40 east to Aviation Parkway, then get back on I-40 going west. Southbound traffic will take I-40 west to I-540, then loop around to eastbound I-40 and exit at Airport Boulevard.
People going to or from Raleigh-Durham International Airport should use Aviation Parkway.
The N.C. Department of Transportation is converting the Airport Boulevard interchange into what’s known as a diverging diamond. It’s a design that involves crisscrossing traffic at either end of bridges over the highway in a way that eliminates left turns and the amount of time drivers spend sitting at red lights.
The new interchange is expected to be completed next summer, according to NCDOT.
Diverging diamonds are becoming more common in the Triangle. Drivers were introduced to the pattern in November 2021 where Western Boulevard meets the Raleigh Beltline. Two others have since opened at I-40 and Jones Sausage Road and at I-40 and N.C. 42 in Johnston County. A fifth is planned at the I-440 Beltline interchange with Wake Forest Road, and two more are included in NCDOT’s plans to turn Capital Boulevard into a freeway between Raleigh and Wake Forest.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 11:31 AM.
