Holiday travel heads up: NCDOT pauses many closures, but not I-40
Heading up and down Interstate 26 visiting family for Christmas? Headed back and forth on Interstate 40 for a New Years' celebration?
Road work and closures could impede your festive travels, including lane closures on I-40 that won't reopen with state transportation officials easing travel constraints for the flow of holiday traffic.
Anyone taking to the highways or airports this holiday season will join 109 million Americans doing the same, according to AAA Carolinas, including more than 3.1 million North Carolinians.
That's a 35% increase over last year, according to AAA, with the vast majority of which, almost 2.9 million, traveling by car.
Travel for the year-end holiday period of Dec. 23-Jan. 2 hasn't quite recovered to pre-pandemic levels, though, down 4.2% in North Carolina compared to 2019, according to the AAA report.
For the main thoroughfares in Henderson and Buncombe Counties, there may still be some slow downs but the state Department of Transportation is taking a break to ease highway traffic for the surge of holiday travelers.
NCDOT presses pause on most projects
NCDOT has been closing section of I-26 at night in relation to ongoing widening efforts, including on Dec. 14, 15 and 17, but announced Dec. 21 that where possible, lanes that have been closed for construction on interstates or state highways would be reopened Dec. 21-28 and Dec. 31-Jan. 4.
NCDOT says Monday, Dec. 27 is expected to see the highest traffic counts, especially on interstates.
The announcement noted that exceptions to its holiday pause on lane closures would be for bridges being replaced and long-term lane construction that cannot be temporarily removed.
A recent lane narrowing between mile markers 32 and 34 to allow for construction is set to remain in effect until March 2022, according to NCDOT, though it's expected to have a low impact on traffic.
More: What caused the I-26 morning commute delays in S. Asheville? Lane shift set for November
Crews continue to work on widening I-26, a highway that sees anywhere from to 56,000 to 74,500 cars every day, according to NCDOT's traffic counts map.
In April, state Department of Transportation officials said the $531 million project to turn I-26 from four to six lanes was still on track to wrap up in 2024 despite some tough weather early on.
Bridge work to keep up on I-40
A prime example of exceptions to the holiday lane re-openings, the NCDOT release says, is I-40 near the Tennessee state line.
Work to replace a 56-year-old bridge at Harmon Den in the Pigeon River Gorge started in November, requiring to merge into one travel lane in either direction.
Crews are replacing the bridge over Harmon Den Road and Cold Spring Creek, with plans that include a wildlife passage to allow bear, deer and elk to move from one side of the highway to the other without crossing traffic.
More: Wildlife passage under I-40 in Pigeon River Gorge, 'excellent start' for bear, elk safety
NCDOT traffic counts list 23,500 cars daily traveling the stretch of I-40.
In anticipation of major delays, North Carolina and Tennessee departments of transportation officials coordinated a traffic management plan that includes two alternatives.
One is to take the zipper merge on I-40, and the other is to take I-26 to I-81, a route that adds about 45 minutes to the normal commute between Asheville and the I-40/I-81 interchange.
While travel mapping apps may encourage drivers to take back roads, NCDOT says motorists shouldn't take any exit between Newport, Tenn. and Asheville to traverse the mountain roads, which could be steep, gravel roads with sharp curves.
Derek Lacey covers environment, growth and development for the Asheville Citizen Times. Reach him at DLacey@gannett.com or 828-417-4842 and find him on Twitter @DerekAVL.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Holiday travel heads up: NCDOT pauses many closures, but not I-40
