HOPE MILLS – Drivers who use the N.C. 59 exit on Interstate 95 Business will encounter detours starting next week.
A N.C. Department of Transportation contractor has completed constructing a five-lane bridge at this interchange in the Hope Mills area. The contractor plans to permanently shift traffic onto it in late January. After the new bridge opens, crews will begin demolishing the existing two-lane bridge alongside the new one.
The on and off ramps do not match the higher elevation of the new bridge, so crews will need to temporarily close the ramps to build up the grade and pave new ramps that are even with the new bridge.
On Jan. 20, workers will close the southbound ramps to exit I-95 Business or enter the interstate heading south from N.C. 59. (The northbound ramps at the same interchange will remain open.)
A detour will send motorists onto the service road, which is known as Southern Boulevard, to take people to N.C. 59. To enter I-95 Business South, drivers will take the detour in reverse.
Also, the section of Shipman Road between N.C. 59 and Fondern Drive will close the week of Jan. 20 as part of the ramp work. Shipman Drive will reopen about two weeks later.
The southbound ramp from Business 95 to N.C. 59 is scheduled to reopen in two weeks. The southbound ramp from N.C. 59 to enter I-95 Business will reopen in about two months.