Wade Ave bridge work means weekend detours in Raleigh
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Drivers heading into downtown Raleigh during the weekend will run into a few detours as crews take a big step in replacing the Wade Avenue ramp bridge over Capital Boulevard.
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If weather permits, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said the contractor will set girders for the new bridge and have them in place by Monday morning. To keep drivers safe and to make room for the girders to be transported to the site, all traffic will be diverted from Capital Boulevard near the Wade Avenue exit during the work.
"You don't want traffic going underneath, you don't want a girder dropping on a vehicle," said Steve Abbott, spokesperson for NCDOT.
CLOSURES
Southbound Capital Boulevard will be closed at Wade Avenue from 9 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. Southbound Capital Boulevard will be closed from Dortch Street, south of Wade Avenue, to Peace Street. A detour will send drivers down Dortch Street to West Street to Peace Street. This closure is between midnight and 5 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wade Avenue will be closed at Capital Boulevard between midnight and 5 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A detour will be in place so drivers can access Capital Boulevard. Northbound Capital Boulevard will also shut down during midnight and 5 a.m. during the weekend.
For that northbound closure, traffic will be diverted onto Peace Street. At the bottom of the exit ramp loop, drivers who want to get to westbound Wade Avenue will be detoured to northbound Glenwood Avenue to access Wade Avenue. To get back on northbound Capital Boulevard, drivers will be directed east on Peace Street, then turn left at North Person Street, which leads to Wake Forest Road. Wake Forest Road merges onto northbound Capital Boulevard.
The bridge replacement is part of a $36.9 million project that will also put a new bridge on Capital Boulevard over Peace Street.
"That's going to start maybe in August," said Abbott. "I know that's going to have a much bigger impact on traffic than the Wade Avenue one where we're basically building the new bridge next to the old one. We're able to keep the old one open almost to the very end."
Abbott said the Peace Street bridge project will include a nicer bridge, a park and a greenway.
"That's going to be the extensive one that's going to have more of an impact on Peace Street, on Capital and on all the side streets there," said Abbott.
The Wade Avenue portion of the work is the initial phase of the project.
