A series of additional closures and shifts are scheduled to begin Monday, Feb. 1, for the Interstate 85 upgrade project in Vance and Warren counties.
On Monday, Poplar Mount Road will close to allow for the construction of the I-85 North bridge over the road. The closure will last several months, with the new bridge scheduled to be ready late this year. Traffic will be directed to a detour using will Martin Road, Burchette Road and Ridgeway Drewry Road.
That same day, the I-85 North on-ramp at Satterwhite Point Road will close and detour traffic onto U.S. 158 and Flemingtown Road. The ramp is expected to open by May 27, in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
On Tuesday, northbound motorists on I-85 in Warren County will shift over onto the southbound median lane between Manson Road and Oine Road (mile markers 224-229). That traffic patterm will remain in place until mid-November as work continues on the northbound lanes.
These shifts and closures are part of a five-year, $137.3-million project to improve the interstate between Dabney Road in Vance County and the Virginia state line. In addition to repairing the deteriorating road surface, bridges on I-85 are being replaced, and bridges over the interstate are being improved, including raising the clearance on several of them to create safer conditions for tractor trailers traveling underneath along the interstate.
The improvements are needed because of the expected increase in traffic volume on this key connector highway for travelers and commercial trucking that links the cities of the Mid-Atlantic and northeast United States to Greensboro, Charlotte and Atlanta. Traffic that is currently at about 37,800 vehicles a day is project to go up to 60,000 per day over the next 20 years.
A project this big means considerable impacts for motorists with lane and ramp closures, traffic shifts and detours needed through the end of the project in 2020.
NCDOT staff has been working closely with local officials, towns, schools and emergency services to make sure everyone knows when their areas will be impacted. For more information about the project, you can contact NCDOT Resident Engineer Boyd Tharrington at btharrington@ncdot.gov or (919) 562-7000.