MORRISVILLE
Getting to and from Raleigh-Durham International Airport will be a little trickier this fall because of construction at the Airport Boulevard interchange with Interstate 40.
Contractors for the N.C. Department of Transportation will soon close one exit ramp and one entrance ramp at Airport Boulevard, forcing drivers to take alternate routes. The closures are scheduled to last until just before Christmas, weather permitting.
It’s scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, when workers plan to close the ramp from Airport Boulevard onto westbound I-40 toward Research Triangle Park, Durham and Chapel Hill. Drivers leaving RDU will be detoured onto Aviation Parkway to get to I-40.
The following evening, workers expect to close the ramp from eastbound I-40 to Airport Boulevard. In that case, drivers will be sent on to the exit to Aviation Parkway and directed to take it south to McCrimmon Parkway and back to Airport Boulevard.
The closures and detours will allow contractors to build part of what’s known as a diverging diamond at Airport Boulevard. The relatively new type of interchange involves crisscrossing traffic at either end of the bridge over the highway in a way that eliminates left turns and the amount of time drivers spend sitting at red lights.
The first diverging diamond in Wake County opened at Western Boulevard and the Raleigh Beltline last November, though the interchange remains under construction. Another is under construction at N.C. 42 and I-40 in Johnston County.
This story was originally published September 5, 2022 8:51 AM.
Read the full article here