Latest Stage of Bridge Construction, I-40 Widening Leads to Orange County Lane Closures

Road travelers in Orange County near Hillsborough are being asked to prepare for some nightly lane closures over the next week.

A release from the North Carolina Department of Transportation said contractors are going to closing Old N.C. 86 overnight from Monday, October 23 through Sunday, October 29 near Interstate 40. The department said it is the latest step in the ongoing bridge construction over Old 86, which is part of NCDOT’s I-40 widening project.

Weather permitting, the closures on Old N.C. 86 should be expected from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night. NCDOT said I-40 traffic will be diverted at the closure as well at Exit 261, with detour signs put into place to help guide drivers around the area.

Vehicles traveling northbound on Old N.C. 86 will be detoured down I-40 East to New Hope Church Road, where they will then take a left and re-enter I-40 going westbound before they can exit off to the other side of Old 86. For southbound drivers, the detour will be down Waterstone Drive, turning right onto N.C. 86, taking a right onto New Hope Church Road, and then arriving at the Old N.C. 86 intersection.

This is not the first time Old N.C. 86 has been closed in 2023 as part of the I-40 widening project — as traffic was diverted overnight in March as contractors began demolition on the interstate’s old bridge that ran over the road.

Once completed, NCDOT says the I-40 widening project is set to bring one new lane to each side of the interstate across 11.4 miles in Orange County. The move from four lanes to six lanes is to “improve traffic flow along the corridor and help relieve heavy congestion that develops during commuter times.” Other elements of the widening project are a new on-and-off approach at the exchange with N.C. 86 in Chapel Hill and extensive work on the medians.

With construction beginning in 2021, the NCDOT estimated the widening project for Interstate 40 would be complete by late 2025. More about the project can be found here.

Photo via Google Maps.

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