NCDOT Closing Exit Ramp on Interstate 85 for 2 Days Beginning Jan. 20

Contractors with the North Carolina Department of Transportation will be closing the Exit 163 ramp in Orange County connecting Interstate 85 South to Interstate 40 East for drainage work, weather permitting.

The closure is expected to begin Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 4 a.m., with a scheduled reopening time of 4 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. During the closure, a signed detour will direct motorists to use Exit 161 for U.S. Highway 70 East and then take the ramp onto I-40 East. As always, officials with the NCDOT are advising drivers to plan ahead, remain alert and obey all posted traffic signs.

This closure is not related to the I-40 widening project, though that large-scale construction project to widen the interstate to six total lanes continues in Orange County. In 2025, the NCDOT shut down Exit 163 for several months as part of the project.

Last year, the NCDOT also closed the Exit 261 ramp from I-40 East to Old North Carolina Highway 86 and demolished parts of the old bridge over Old N.C. 86 as part of the I-40 project. Updates on the project can be found on the NCDOT’s project website here.

Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Brighton McConnell

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