RALEIGH –The work on two bridges over the Cape Fear River and Cross Creek near the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville is reaching the finish line. The final traffic pattern on Interstate 95 Business/U.S.301 is scheduled to begin next week.
Today, the N.C. Department of Transportation expects to shift traffic along the route beginning around 5 p.m. while crews work to install the new median. Once the painting and paving is complete associated with the median, motorists will begin traveling in the final traffic pattern.
The nearly $16-million construction along the I-95 Business Loop and U.S 301 began in 2012. Both bridges were 61 years old and considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. This means they were built to design standards no longer in use, such as narrow lanes, inadequate under-clearances and insufficient load-carrying capacity. A functionally obsolete and structurally deficient bridge is like an old house. It was constructed years ago and built based on all of the particular standards of the time. Now, it needs updating. This doesn’t mean it’s unsafe; it means work needs to be done to bring it up to modern standards.
These projects are part of the department’s statewide bridge program to improve the condition of the state’s bridges.
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