Raleigh — The contractor for the Capital
Boulevard bridges project in Raleigh has postponed Sunday night's scheduled
traffic shift for Peace Street. The issue is the overnight temperature. It will
be in the 30's, making it too cold to do the lane striping changes needed for
the shift.
They will try again later next week, but again it will be weather
conditional.
One change that did take place last week was the closure of Dortch
Street until about February 4. Drivers can get around the closure using Capital
Boulevard, North West Street and the southbound Capital Boulevard ramp off Wade
Avenue, depending on which direction of Dortch Street a driver is going.
The upcoming Peace Street shift is needed to complete
stage two of a culvert going under the road in advance of the new bridge being
built over the street.
The initial traffic shift for
the culvert work took place last September, and placed traffic into a single
lane in each direction, with a left turn lane so drivers on westbound Peace
Street can turn onto North West Street, and westbound Peace Street returning to
a two-lane pattern between North West Street and Glenwood Avenue. For the
upcoming shift, traffic will move over onto the section of road that has been
closed, and then the section vehicles have been using will be closed off to
traffic.
The one-lane each way traffic pattern is
scheduled to be in place for 300 days, and since it started last fall, it should
wrap up early this summer.
Also expected in the
coming weeks is the setting of girders for the Peace Street bridge. A date has
not been set as additional materials need to be delivered to the site. This will
require an overnight closure of Peace Street for safety reasons, with a detour
in place.
The bridge over Peace Street is 67 years
old. Its replacement is part of a complete revamping of the interchange, with
the current diamond-style interchange now in use replaced by a square loop shape
interchange that will eliminate the ramp directly to Peace Street that currently
exists. Instead, drivers will travel over the new bridge, and use Johnson Street
and Harrington Street, which will be extended, to access Peace Street at a
traffic light. There will also be bike lanes added along Peace Street between
the interchange ramps, and sidewalks will be widened to 14 feet along Peace
Street and most of the square loop.
It is part of a
$36.9 million project that also puts a new bridge-ramp on Wade
Avenue over Capital Boulevard. Work on that bridge, which is going in next to
the current structure, is expected to see motorists moving over to the new
bridge later this spring or early summer
Updated
information on the bridge projects are available through a variety of means,
including the project website, as well as through the department’s Triangle twitter
feed.
Contact: Steve Abbott
(919) 707-2600
swabbott@ncdot.gov