Tagged: I-40

Structural engineers will put a pedestrian bridge over I-40 this weekend.  Work crews will stay busy overnight Sunday to install the addition to the historic American Tobacco Trial.  The bridge is a major step in adding four miles to the American Tobacco Trail that connects the existing portion to a stretch that ends at the Chatham County line.

Ed Venable, an engineer on the bridge placement project,  says I-40 will have to be shut down to put this bridge --  now in four sections -- in place.

The Plug-In electric car conference wrapped up its four-day run this week in Raleigh. It's the first time the conference, which draws car makers and utility planners from around the country, has been held on the East Coast. Conference planners were drawn to North Carolina's capital by the growing demand for electric vehicles in the Triangle.

The driver of the tractor-trailer involved in yesterday's multi-vehicle crash on I-40 has been arrested on multiple charges. Three people died in the accident.

Transportation officials are slowly opening new lanes this week on Interstate 40 in west Raleigh. It's part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation's long-term plan to expand freeways in the Triangle. DOT spokesman Steve Abbot says the section of I-40 between Harrison Avenue and Highway 1 will widen from four lanes to six.

Steve Abbot: "That is one of the biggest bottlenecks of traffic in the Triangle and we widen that just to alleviate traffic, make things safer and help traffic flow better. We are on target to be finished about the end of June of this year."