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Fortify lane closures in place on I-440

Construction crews working on the Fortify project on Interstate 440 east of downtown Raleigh have finished installing lane closures that will allow workers to begin the massive overhaul of the highway.

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Fortify asphalt plant
RALEIGH, N.C. — Construction crews working on the Fortify project on Interstate 440 east of downtown Raleigh have finished installing lane closures that will allow workers to begin the massive overhaul of the highway.

Milder weather in the past two weeks has allowed crews to finish installing concrete barriers on I-440 East from U.S. Highway 64/264 to the Interstate 40/440 split, state Department of Transportation officials said Friday.

Granite Construction completed similar lane shifts on I-440 West from the I-40/440 split to U.S. 64/264 several weeks ago, and crews have been ripping up large portions of the highway.

DOT officials said Friday that the current traffic pattern will be in place through at least May.

Once it is pulled up, the asphalt will be crushed and used in the asphalt plant that was built in the middle of the work zone. All of the highway being replaced will be recycled and put back down when crews begin repaving, officials said. The asphalt plant could begin producing new asphalt for the project by the end of the month.

Once the inside lanes on I-440 East and West are repaved, crews will shift to the outside lanes.

Officials said Friday that crews hope to have the I-440 portion of the massive road rebuild done by Thanksgiving. Once that section is complete, crews will move on to the bigger piece of the project – replacing pavement on the 8-mile stretch of I-40 that circles south of downtown Raleigh.

Work on bridges on I-40 has already started. Crews have been doing nighttime prep work to widen bridges, and they are also continuing work to install a temporary bridge near the I-40/440 split that will allow trucks access to the asphalt plant and parts of the work zone without the trucks needing to use travel lanes.

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