The ongoing work to widen Interstate 40 in Orange County is set to disrupt overnight traffic patterns for the rest of the week, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

A release from NCDOT on Wednesday afternoon said beginning at 11 p.m., contracted crews will close I-40 eastbound lanes between the off and on ramps of Old North Carolina Highway 86 — which is Exit 261 just south of Hillsborough. Additionally, Old NC 86 under the interstate will be closed beginning at 10 p.m. to divert traffic. NCDOT said the road work is “bridge construction activities” related to the widening.

Both I-40 East and Old NC 86 will be reopened by 5 a.m. on Thursday, said the release, before similar closures take place in the evening and carry over to the morning of Friday, July 25.

After that, the Exit 261 ramp for the interstate’s eastbound lanes and the old highway will be closed starting 10 p.m. on Friday and will reopen the following morning by 5 a.m.

NCDOT said signed detours will be placed for drivers along the roadway to direct around both closures. Motorists are encouraged to be cautious when approaching and going through the work zone.

The announcement marks the latest overnight closures in Hillsborough of I-40 since May, when NCDOT demolished parts of the old bridge over Old NC 86. A bigger, extended closure began in June — as construction work shut down the ramp connecting I-85 South to I-40 East. That closure is expected to last until September.

The work is all part of the Department of Transportation’s effort to widen Interstate 40 to six total lanes in Orange County, requiring extensive work across and under 11.4 miles of roadway. In NCDOT’s latest substantive update from Feb. 2025 on its project website, it detailed traffic shifts to the completed inside lanes, median grading being complete, the concrete batch plant functioning at the Chapel Hill exchange with North Carolina Highway 86 and more than 80 drainage pipes being installed under the road.

 

Featured image by the Chapel Hill Media Group.

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