ASHEVILLE — Drivers traveling toward downtown Asheville on Interstate 26 West near the Blue Ridge Parkway will experience a new traffic pattern starting Thursday morning.
A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will finish the final adjustments of a traffic shift during an overnight closure from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Then drivers will be on new concrete from just west of Long Shoals Road to the construction zone for a new interchange near mile marker 35.
“This is another step in the progress toward completion on the north section of the project,” said Luke Middleton, resident engineer for the Buncombe County portion of the I-26 widening.
Another shift later this month will move eastbound traffic to adjacet new concrete in this stretch, which will provide motorists with more shoulder space than the current configuration.
These moves will allow the contractor, Fluor-United Joint Venture, to concentrate on construction of new eastbound lanes in this 2-mile stretch which runs under the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Once operations are complete under the bridge, scheduled for later this summer, traffic on the Blue Ridge Parkway will shift to the new bridge. A majority of the focus will then shift to construction of Exit 35.
Transportation officials advise drivers to remain alert and obey all posted traffic signs when driving through the work zone.