WINSTON-SALEM – Local drivers will soon see a benefit to the acceleration package agreed upon last fall between NCDOT and the Business 40 contractors. The Broad Street bridge will tentatively open on March 30, if not earlier. Construction on the bridge was originally scheduled to begin next fall.
NCDOT Resident Engineer Mezak Tucker said that the acceleration package “enabled Flatiron, the project contractor, to work extended hours and hire additional subcontractors to complete the work faster, deliver the bridge sooner, and reduce the overall impact to the citizens and businesses.”
He said that the original schedule was for 300 days, but was cut to 240 with the acceleration package. Incentives have allowed the contractor to complete the work in 192 days, 48 days ahead of the accelerated schedule.
The timetable was also adjusted to separate the closures of Broad Street and Brookstown Avenue. Once the Broad Street bridge is open to vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the bridge will still have another layer of asphalt that will need to go on the driving surface, but it will be fully functional. Work will continue on other portions of the bridge, too.
The Green Street bridge, which is adjacent to the Broad Street bridge, will be demolished and rebuilt.