More lane closures coming east of Raleigh

When the Department of Transportation returns to work in the first full week of 2014, crews will extend lane closures in the westbound lanes of Interstate 440 just east of downtown Raleigh.

Posted 8:06 p.m. Jan 2, 2014 — Updated 5:13 p.m. Jan 3, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. — When the Department of Transportation returns to work in the first full week of 2014, crews will extend lane closures in the westbound lanes of Interstate 440 just east of downtown Raleigh.

Work on the Fortify project began in December, with lanes reduced between the I-440/I-40 interchange and Poole Road. That shift slowed the commute significantly for drivers headed to downtown Raleigh from Johnston County and the east side of the city.

On Friday and Saturday nights, crews will begin replacing orange construction barrels in that stretch with permanent concrete barriers to keep drivers out of the work zone. In total, DOT crews will install nearly 3,000 barriers in the I-440 portion of the project.

Early next week, weather permitting, crews will close off those same westbound lanes all the way to the Knightdale Bypass, U.S. Highway 64/264. From I-40 to U.S. 64, westbound drivers on I-440 will share only two lanes.

That stretch will be marked by construction barrels until early next week, when crews will finish replacing them with concrete barriers.

Within two weeks, travel in both directions of I-440 between I-40 and U.S. 64 will be down to two lanes.

Once the concrete barriers are in place, that's when the big work begins. Crews will work around the clock to cut out the interstate and rebuild it piece by piece. Abbott says the scope of the work means the lanes will be closed for the duration of the year-long phase of the project.

Once the section of I-440 is replaced, the crews move on to the bigger piece of the Fortify project – replacing pavement on the stretch of I-40 that circles south of downtown Raleigh.

That work should begin early next year and continue into 2016.

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