Closed more than 4 months, Peace Street on-ramp reopened Friday
Downtown commuters will once again be able to use Peace Street to get on to northbound Capital Boulevard starting Friday, when the rebuilt entrance ramp reopens.
The ramp was closed July 24 so it could be reconfigured as part of the broader overhaul of the Peace Street interchange. The tight looping exit from northbound Capital on to Peace had been replaced by a new straight ramp, giving contractors room to reconfigure the northbound entrance ramp.
The work was supposed to take no more than 90 days. It ended up taking 134. The extra time was the result of a ”combination of scheduling delays, weather delays and unexpected construction issues,” said NCDOT spokesman Marty Homan.
The ramp was expected to be open in time for the Friday evening commute, Homan said.
Signs directed drivers on detours that used either Glenwood Avenue or Wake Forest Road to get back to northbound Capital. But many commuters simply made their way to McDowell Street, increasing traffic on the street that becomes Capital Boulevard.
The opening of the ramp coincides with a shift in traffic on the new Capital Boulevard bridge over Peace Street. Overnight Thursday, the final pavement was put down and concrete barriers moved to allow the northbound lanes to shift onto a section of the new bridge.
The same will happen for the southbound lanes, which was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Friday. That work was expected to be completed by 6 a.m. Saturday.
The changes at Peace Street are part of a larger project to remake a 1-mile stretch of Capital Boulevard just north of downtown. The $36.9 million project also entails replacing the Wade Avenue bridge over Capital, realigning the road and adding sidewalks and a 10-foot grassy median.
Construction began in early fall of 2018 and was expected to be finished this fall.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 10:20 AM.
