HENDERSONVILLE – Another old bridge over Interstate 26 in Henderson County is coming down this week.
A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will begin removing the old bridge on Clear Creek Road over I-26 at 8 p.m., tonight.
This operation requires I-26 West to be closed Tuesday and Wednesday nights from U.S. 64 (Exit 49) to U.S. 25 Business (Exit 44). Overnight drivers will be detoured from Hendersonville to Fletcher via U.S. 64 (Exit 49B) to U.S. 25 (Asheville Highway) to rejoin I-26.
The operation will resume on Sunday through Tuesday nights when I-26 East will be closed from U.S. 25 Business (Exit 44) to U.S. 64 (Exit 49). Drivers will be detoured in Fletcher at Exit 44 and directed to Asheville Highway, then U.S. 176, and then to Upward Road to rejoin I-26 in Hendersonville at Exit 53.
Traffic on Asheville Highway will be incorporated into the Integrated Corridor Management system, a signal-timing program that provides longer green lights on Hendersonville Road. NCDOT officials successfully tested the ICM system on this route in the fall.
The new bridge on Clear Creek Road, wide enough to accommodate the new lanes on I-26, opened to traffic on Friday. This is the third of seven bridges over I-26 to be replaced as part of the I-26 widening project.
The old bridge on Brookside Camp Road is the next on the schedule, with removal tentatively starting the night of Monday, May 3.
“The new ICM signal timing allows more to work to be accomplished in a couple nights than we could probably do in a week with rolling roadblocks,” NCDOT Division 14 Resident Engineer Mike Patton said. “So, we have already saved a couple weeks of construction time.”
Transportation officials advise drivers to allow extra time for travel at night and to obey all posted traffic signs.