NCDOT: Smoother ride, new bridges coming to I-95 in Johnston County

A seven-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in northern Johnston County will be repaved and two aging bridges replaced over the next two years, the N.C. Department of Transportation announced Friday.

The new bridges, at Lizzie Mill Road and Bizzell Grove Church Road between Selma and Kenly, will be longer and wider to accommodate an I-95 that will eventually be wider, too.

Earlier this summer, NCDOT announced that the long-awaited widening of I-95 from four to as many as eight lanes would begin in two sections: between I-40 and Exit 71 near Dunn beginning in 2026 and between Exit 40 near Hope Hills and Exit 22 in Lumberton beginning in 2027.

The bridges being replaced are about 60 years old and are classified as functionally obsolete, meaning they were built to outdated standards.

The $53.6 million project will begin as soon as the end of this month and take two years to complete. Most of the repaving will take place at night, but lanes will be closed during the day at times, according to NCDOT. There also will be periodic night-time closures of I-95 for the bridge construction, requiring detours.

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 1:22 PM with the headline "NCDOT: Smoother ride, new bridges coming to I-95 in Johnston County."