09/19/14 — Weekend roadwork planned for U.S. 70

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Weekend roadwork planned for U.S. 70

By From staff reports
Published in News on September 19, 2014 1:46 PM

Motorists on U.S. 70 west of Goldsboro should expect delays over the next three days as traffic is shifted at the location of the tie-in for the new U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass.

Drivers are advised to use caution while traveling in the area and to expect delays. They also are reminded to watch signs for construction information, to stay alert and obey the posted speed limit.

Starting around 8 a.m. today, U.S. 70 West traffic will be reduced to one lane and shifted to the left lane between N.C. 581 and Community Drive while crews with S.T. Wooten pave the new westbound lanes of U.S. 70 as part of the tie-in for the Goldsboro Bypass from U.S. 70 West.

The single lane of traffic will then be shifted to the outside right lane once this lane is paved. Upon completion of the paving of the inside lane at both ends of the tie-in with existing U.S. 70, traffic will then go back to two lanes.

Once the switch is complete, traffic will be placed in its final pattern onto the new alignment of the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass at this location. Crews expect the shift to be complete by Sunday, weather permitting.

A $62.4 million contract was awarded to S.T. Wooten in July 2012 for the construction of this 5.9-mile western section of the U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass. The four-lane divided highway will go from U.S. 70 west of Goldsboro to Interstate 795. Interchanges will be constructed at U.S. 70 and N.C. 581. This section of the project is currently scheduled to be completed by summer 2015.

The U.S. 70 Goldsboro Bypass is a three-part project estimated to cost $246 million. Once complete, the 20-mile bypass will span from U.S. 70 just west of N.C. 581 to U.S. 70 just east of Promise Land Road in Lenoir County.

The first 3.9-mile section of the bypass, designated as N.C. 44, opened to traffic in December 2011 from I-795 to Wayne Memorial Drive north of Goldsboro.

Once the east and west sections are complete, this section will be resigned as the U.S. 70 Bypass.

A $104.4 million design-build contract was awarded to Barnhill Contracting Co. in February 2012 for the 12.5-mile eastern section of the bypass. Interchanges will be constructed at U.S. 13, Parkstown Road and U.S. 70.

This project is currently scheduled to be completed by spring 2016.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit the DOT traffic website or follow DOT on Twitter.

Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the DOT website. To access it, type "m.ncdot.gov" into the browser of your smartphone. Then, bookmark it to save for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.