ASHEVILLE – Drivers traveling away from downtown Asheville on Interstate 26 East near the Blue Ridge Parkway will experience a new traffic pattern starting Friday 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 east of the French Broad River near mile marker 35 — by the construction zone for a new interchange — to just west of Long Shoals Road.
“Another step toward completion of the north part of the project will be finished,” said Luke Middleton, resident engineer for the Buncombe County portion of the I-26 widening. “With all traffic under the Blue Ridge Parkway moved over, crews can begin on the next major steps.”
Combined with a westbound traffic shift earlier this month, these moves 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.