FAYETTEVILLE – A different traffic pattern will greet drivers in downtown Fayetteville next week when workers begin tying the new road alignment around the Rowan Street bridge to the existing pavement of Bragg Boulevard.
The N.C. Department of Transportation needs to reduce traffic on northbound Bragg Boulevard to one lane between Rowan Street and Walter Street, which is the main entrance to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. The lane reduction is scheduled to start Monday morning. The southbound lanes of the boulevard will not be reduced.
Contract crews need to grade the land, place asphalt and curb and gutter and pavement markings to shift boulevard traffic to the new intersection of Rowan Street and Murchison Road at the base of the new bridge.
Approximately 30 days after the lane reduction begins, traffic will be shifted onto the boulevard’s new alignment with the intersection. Initially, the new alignment will have one lane open in each direction until the work is completed. It will take about 30 days to complete the work after traffic is shifted onto the new alignment.
This map shows where the lane reduction and road realignment will occur.
Motorists are encouraged to pay attention when approaching the work zone and obey the posted speed limit.
The project actually comprises two back-to-back bridges, which cross two sets of railroad tracks. The new spans were erected alongside a four-lane bridge built in 1956. In May 2018, traffic was permanently shifted from the old bridge onto the new set of bridges. The shift allowed the crews to demolish the old bridge and make room to build out the final two lanes of the new spans on Rowan Street.
The $24.3 construction project was awarded in 2016.The entire project is scheduled to be completed by November.