Crews to close I-440 East ramp in Fortify zone Friday

The closure is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, weather permitting, and the road will reopen in time for the Monday morning commute, state Department of Transportation officials said.

Drivers who want to access Poole Road from I-440 East will get off at Interstate 495/U.S. Highway64/264 (Exit 14). They will go to the first exit, South New Hope Road and turn left at the traffic light.

Crews are continuing to break up the road surface and dig out the ground underneath the road on the outside lanes of I-440 West.

In the outside lanes of I-440 East, crews will begin paving lanes between U.S. Highway 64/264 and Poole Road by the middle of October.

Officials said Friday that work will be scaled back slightly during the State Fair, which runs Oct. 16-26, to accommodate increased traffic on Interstate 40 and I-440.

On I-40, bridge preparation and road prep work continues. New guardrails are going up between Gorman Street and Lake Wheeler Road, and shoulder paving is continuing between Jones Franklin Road and Gorman.

Crews are still scheduled to finish the I-440 section of the Fortify project by the end of 2014. The larger I-40 section of the project, between the I-440/U.S. Highway 1/64 interchange in Cary and the I-440 split in southeast Raleigh, will begin in earnest next year.