'Unforeseen delays' mean new Western Boulevard interchange won't open before Tuesday
A portion of Western Boulevard at the Interstate 440 interchange in west Raleigh will remain closed an extra day while crews work to unveil a new road design, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
Posted — UpdatedConstruction crews are redesigning the roadway under I-440 into the Triangle's first "diverging diamond" interchange. The new design was slated to open at 5 a.m. Monday, but the DOT said its contractor wasn't able to meet that deadline due to "unforeseen delays."
Instead, the new design on Western Boulevard will likely open Tuesday, officials said. A DOT spokesman said crews need to finish paving and putting down lane markers before the interchange can reopen safely.
According to the DOT, the contractor, Lane Construction, faces $10,000-an-hour fines for missing the deadline. By Monday evening, the fine had topped $100,000.
A spokeswoman with Connecticut-based Lane declined to comment on the delay.
Since both directions of Western Boulevard remain closed at the interchange, the following detours remain in place:
- Eastbound Western Boulevard traffic will follow a detour to I-440 West and Melbourne Road (Exit 1D) to turn around and take I-440 East back to Western Boulevard (Exit 2). Traffic on I-440 West wanting to go east on Western Boulevard will follow the same detour.
- Westbound Western Boulevard traffic will follow a detour to I-440 East and Hillsborough Street (Exit 3) to turn around and take I-440 West back to Western Boulevard (Exit 2). Traffic on I-440 East wanting to go west on Western Boulevard will follow this detour as well. The ramp from westbound Western Boulevard to I-440 West was permanently closed last weekend.
Several drivers said they purposefully avoided the area during construction.
"Good luck’s all I've got to say. I’m going the opposite direction," Jim Fowler said.
"I take Hillsborough Street and pretty much avoid it all," another driver said.
"It hasn’t affected me so much. I mean, I mainly go eastbound 440, and I live right here, so I haven’t had to deal with it too much yet," Josh Sanne said.
Once complete, the diverging diamond interchange will be more efficient and safer, according to project engineers. The DOT posted an example of the interchange on YouTube.
Once it reopens, Western Boulevard traffic turning right onto the interstate will remain in the right lane. Traffic traveling straight through the interchange or turning left will stop at a signal. On green, those drivers will be able to make a left turn onto the ramp without having to cross oncoming traffic or continue straight ahead.
"People have been driving in this area for a long time and are used to a certain thing, so I’m sure driving in the opposite lane will be tricky for a bit," Sanne said.
A national study of diverging diamond interchanges found that the design reduced crashes resulting in injury or death by an average of 54 percent.
The diverging diamond interchange is also less expensive than other interchange redesigns because it often can use existing infrastructure. The DOT has installed several diverging diamonds in other parts of the state, including in Mebane and Lumberton, and says more are planned for interchanges in the Triangle.
The I-440 work is part of a project to widen the interstate to a total of six lanes between Walnut Street in Cary and Wade Avenue in Raleigh. That work is scheduled to be completed in summer 2023.
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