Construction work will soon begin on the other I-40 interchange at RDU airport
Drivers will soon notice the start of a multiyear effort to rebuild the Interstate 40 interchange at Airport Boulevard, just south of Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
The beginning of the Airport Boulevard project means both RDU exits from I-40 will be under construction at the same time for more than a year, as workers finish overhauling the Aviation Parkway interchange a mile away. Both projects will result in new bridges over the highway and new traffic patterns designed to move cars more efficiently.
When it is finished in 2023, the Airport Boulevard interchange will be 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. There are no diverging diamonds in the Triangle yet, but several are in the works.
The project entails moving the intersection with Pleasant Grove Church Road about 500 feet north along Airport Boulevard. Tree clearing and other site work is expected to start there soon.
The project also includes extending the merge lanes onto I-40 in both directions, to give drivers more room to get in and out of traffic. These auxiliary lanes will extend eastbound to the Aviation Parkway exit and westbound to the Interstate 540 off ramp. Work on the lanes should begin this year, according to NCDOT.
The diverging diamond will result in two bridges crossing I-40 where there is only one now. Work on the new west side bridge will start this year, NCDOT says, and be finished in 2021, when work on the east side bridge will begin. The complete diverging diamond traffic pattern is scheduled to be finished in 2023.
The interchange will generally remain open during construction, as will all four lanes of Airport Boulevard, except for occasional single-lane closures during off-peak hours, mostly at night, according to NCDOT. In addition, one northbound lane of Airport Boulevard will be closed for a more extended time during the second phase of bridge construction, in 2021 and 2022.
Construction is expected to cost $34.9 million.
The reconstruction of the Aviation Parkway interchange began in the spring of 2018. After some delays caused by utility work, it isn’t expected to be finished until the summer of 2021, about six months later than originally planned, according to NCDOT spokesman Marty Homan.
Earlier this month, contractors closed the exit ramp from eastbound I-40 onto Aviation Parkway so they could build a new section of the parkway to line up with the new bridge. The ramp is not expected to reopen until mid-April, according to NCDOT.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
