More lane shifts underway in Fortify zone on I-40 East

Transportation officials are asking drivers to be cautious as crews begin shifting lanes Wednesday night on Interstate 40 between Jones Franklin Road and Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh.

Posted 9:40 p.m. Jun 10, 2015 — Updated 9:10 a.m. Jun 11, 2015

RALEIGH, N.C. — Transportation officials are asking drivers to be cautious as crews begin shifting lanes Wednesday night on Interstate 40 East between Jones Franklin Road and Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh.

For the next week or so, traffic in the area will be reduced each night to two lanes at 9 p.m. and down to one lane about 11 p.m.

The work is part of Fortify, a North Carolina Department of Transportation project to rebuild an 11.5-mile stretch of Interstate 40/440. The lane closures will allow workers to install pavement markings and put traffic onto the widened and strengthened outside shoulder, which will serve as a travel lane.

Traffic will be back in its usual three-lane capacity for the morning commute, using the shoulder and the two outside lanes.

The shift will allow crews to begin rebuilding the median and inside lanes in both directions in that section of I-40.

Similar shifts wrapped up last weekend on I-40 West between Lake Wheeler Road and U.S.1 in Cary. In that section, crews have started replacing the orange construction barrels that mark the closed roadway with concrete barriers.

To assist motorists who run into trouble while in the shifted section of the highway, crews built four extra-wide shoulders that provide space to pull off the travel lanes. Each direction of travel – I-40 eastbound and westbound – has two breakdown areas. There is one located in both directions between U.S. 1/64 and Gorman Street, and another between Gorman Street and Lake Wheeler.

If a vehicle breaks down in a travel lane and cannot be moved, the driver should stay inside the vehicle, turn on the flashers, and if a cell phone is available, call 911. Getting out of the car could mean stepping into the travel lane and possibly into the path of other vehicles.

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