FAYETTEVILLE – Another milestone for the Rowan Street bridge project will occur Monday, Dec. 17, when steel girders needed for the final two lanes are set into place.
After the morning rush hour, an N.C. Department of Transportation contractor will close one eastbound lane on the new Rowan Street bridge in downtown Fayetteville. The workers need the lane to safely install four steel girders that will expand the new bridge from its present four lanes to six lanes when the project is completed by next summer.
Although one eastbound lane will remain closed most of the day, all traffic will be stopped for five to 10 minutes each time a girder is swung into place. If necessary, the workers will finish placing the girders on Tuesday, Dec. 18.
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, 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 project also includes realigning Rowan Street, Murchison Road and Bragg Boulevard into a new intersection that will create a new gateway into downtown and a more prominent route to the Fayetteville State University campus nearby on Murchison Road.