I-40 Repaving Will Be Up and Down – the Ramps

The project in Durham County is focusing on entrance and exit ramps this week and the weekend of Aug. 18 and 19, NCDOT says.

Posted 2:15 a.m. May 19, 2007 — Updated 9:12 p.m. Aug 13, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. — Ramp paving is the order of the day – and the week – for the Interstate 40 project in Durham County.

Work is slated for 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday nights to 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights to 8 a.m.

This week's and next weekend's schedules from the state Department of Transportation are:

Monday, Aug. 13, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 14 (westbound ramps at Exit 278)
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 15 (westbound ramps at Exit 276)
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 16 (westbound, Exit 276 to Exit 274)
Thursday, Aug. 16, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Friday, Aug. 17 (westbound ramps at Exit 274)
Friday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 18 (westbound, Exit 278 to Exit 276)
Saturday, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 19 (westbound, Exit 278 to Exit 276)
Sunday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Monday, Aug. 20 (westbound ramp at 273)

Work on the highway is always subject to weather, and rain prevents paving.

Check on WRAL's traffic cameras page to see how traffic is – or isn't – moving on the stretch of I-40 that affects you.

The overall project covers 10.4 miles between the Durham County line, just west of U.S. 15-501, and the Durham Freeway, Exit 279. NCDOT hopes crews will get almost all of both eastbound and westbound sides done by fall, then will finish up next spring.

The repaving zone is where the highway was widened a few years ago. Workers are taking out the concrete and replacing it with blacktop. The concrete was not installed properly and began to break up shortly afterward.

The NCDOT posts the schedule on the project Web site. It is usually updated on Fridays.

NCDOT's first recommended detour for hours when the road is narrowed is for eastbound motorists to take Interstate 85 to the Durham Freeway south back to I-40, circumventing the road construction. The westbound detour is the Freeway to I-85 to I-40.

For travelers going farther, the department offers a second detour, taking U.S. 1 south to U.S. 64 west to U.S 421 north to I-85 south to U.S. 220 north to the Greensboro/Triad area, and U.S. 1 south to U.S. 64 west to U.S. 421 north to I-85 south to Charlotte.

Crews began widening the Durham stretch of I-40 to three lanes in each directions in 2003 and completed the $50 million project in 2004, but the top layer of the interstate began crumbling and forming potholes in the summer of 2005.

The DOT said the problem was because workers with Granite Construction failed to make 3-inch pavement expansion grooves along the I-40 stretch.

Last November, Granite Construction agreed to pay $3 million for repairs, and the federal government agreed to pay $14.4 million.

The DOT contracted Lane Construction Corp., of Meriden, Conn., for the repair job, which will continue through November and resume in March 2008. It is set to be complete by May 2008.

The DOT announces details about closures, including specific dates, times and locations, as the construction goes on and the project progresses. Information is in the NCDOT I-40 project Web site announcement.

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