ROADS/BRIDGES: NCDOT awards contract for I-40 reconstruction in Winston-Salem

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has awarded a $99.2 million contract for reconstruction of a 1.2-mile stretch of Interstate 40 Business/U.S. 421 in Winston-Salem, dubbed the Business 40 Improvement Project.

The agency awarded the contract to a team made up of Flatiron Constructors Inc./Blythe Development Company Joint Venture and HDR Engineering Inc. NCDOT says the team, under one contract, will develop the design, purchase the right of way, obtain permitting, coordinate utility relocation and construct the project.

The project will include the following updates: upgrading the entrance and exit ramps that remain; eliminating some entrance and exit ramps such as those at the Broad Street interchange and lengthening some entrance and exit ramps, including those at Marshall and Cherry Streets; replacing the bridges on and over Business 40 with new structures that will meet current and future traffic demands; removing the existing Business 40 pavement and replacing it with new pavement; and aesthetic enhancements to the roadway and some of the bridges.

NCDOT expects construction on one section, the Peters Creek Parkway, to begin next summer and be completed by winter 2018. The full closure of Business 40, which could last two years, is expected to start in late 2018 or early 2019 after the Peters Creek Parkway is completed.