Traffic congestion and delays are expected to increase in Winston-Salem this year as improvements to Business 40 get underway. State transportation officials are urging motorists to start looking for alternative routes.
Construction crews will demolish the existing Fourth Street bridge over the weekend.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation will close Business 40 in both directions between Cloverdale Avenue and Peters Creek Parkway during the process.
“The bridge demolition will take place from 9 p.m. Friday night through 11 a.m. Sunday morning, so Business 40 will reopen at 11 a.m. Sunday morning,” says Mezak Tucker, an engineer with NCDOT. “But the Fourth Street bridge itself will be closed for up to 300 days for the reconstruction of that bridge.”
Detours will be posted near the site and Tucker advises motorists passing through to use Interstate 40.
But the biggest part of the project is yet to come. NCDOT will completely shut down a one-mile stretch of the roadway in late 2018. That work will take nearly two years to complete.
Tucker says the updates will help modernize the freeway and accommodate the area's growing population.
“The bridges will be wider, the roadway will be wider, the ramps will be longer, but what's important is that the new design will allow Business 40 to function more safely and effectively.”
NCDOT officials say around 80,000 cars use the road every day.
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