Highly-anticipated. Much-needed. Long-dreaded.
Whatever you think of the extended shutdown and renovation of Business 40 in Winston-Salem, it's finally here.
Starting Saturday at 6:00 a.m., the section of the highway between Peters Creek Parkway and U.S. 52 will close, although final preparations for the closure begin Friday night.
Travelers have already been experiencing partial interruptions on the highway that runs through the city's downtown due to other construction.
By Monday morning, part of the Liberty/Main St bridges at #Biz40NC will be demolished. Church St. bridge demolition starts Monday. These will reopen in summer '19. Detour links below.
Main: https://t.co/MCkGAGz0JT
Liberty: https://t.co/MazpNyDb0E
Church: https://t.co/dP4fE9SuLq pic.twitter.com/e7hrBtJCJH— City of Winston-Salem (@CityofWS) November 16, 2018
While there are plenty of alternate routes drivers can take, the main detour runs like so: eastbound drivers can get off at the Peters Creek exit, head south to Interstate 40 where they'll continue east until they reach U.S. 52. Then head north on 52 until it reconnects with Business 40, and you're on your way.
According to the City of Winston-Salem, the closure of this section of highway will also be accompanied by the rehab of several bridges that cross it. By Monday morning at least part of the Liberty and Main Street bridges will be demolished, and demolition of the Church Street bridge will begin that same day.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is encouraging motorists to use the crowd-sourced navigation app Waze to get real-time traffic updates during construction. Drivers can also visit the official Business 40 shutdown website.
According to the project's official timeline, Business 40 is expected to fully reopen in the summer of 2020.