More Updates to the 85 South Detours …..


Don’t blame the bearer of bad news, folks. I drive this stretch every day, myself …. I reckon one of these years we’ll have a fully functioning highway again ;) Until then, set that alarm for a few minutes earlier! 

Work on the Interstate 85 improvement project in Vance and Warren counties is requiring the two-month closure of the North Carolina Welcome Center starting today. It is located off the southbound lanes at mile marker 231, two miles south of the Virginia state line. The closure is needed so contractor crews can work on the southbound lanes and the on and exit ramps for the welcome center.

While southbound traffic has been in a single lane pattern on the northbound side of the interstate for the past several months, access to the welcome center had been kept open with temporary ramps. However the work being done requires those to be closed as well.

The rest area unit of the N.C. Department of Transportation will take advantage of the closure to do some maintenance and rehabilitation work on the welcome center.

The next closest rest area on southbound I-85 is at mile marker 199 in Granville County, six miles south of Oxford.

An upcoming traffic change for the project calls for the closure of the bridge on Mabry Mill Road over I-85 in Vance County for 21 days for improvement work. It is tentatively scheduled to start Sept. 5. Motorists will be able to use Satterwhite Point Road and U.S. 1/158 to detour around the closure.

The work at both locations is part of a $137.3-million project to improve I-85 between Dabney Road in Vance County and the Virginia state line. The work involves repairing the deteriorating road surface, as well as bridge replacements and improvements.

The project has travelers in a single-lane pattern in both directions for a lengthy stretch. That makes it very important for drivers to slow down, avoid distractions, and leave extra space between their vehicle and the one in front of them for the safety of travelers and construction crews through the area.

Image Information: embinmt / Pixabay