Construction crews will soon be starting work on two new bridges to replace the two outdated bridges where U.S. 52 crosses over Liberty Street near Smith Reynolds Airport.
When the work is finished in late 2012, state officials said, the new bridges will each be three lanes wide and built to interstate highway standards.
The bridge crosses the Norfolk Southern switching yard as well as Airport Road.
Drivers will have to learn some new ways of getting around, though. The state is permanently closing the ramp leading from northbound U.S. 52 to Airport Road.
The $19 million job will be done by Blythe Construction Inc. of Charlotte, and work could start as early as March 29, state officials said.
Unlike the Business 40 improvements scheduled for downtown Winston-Salem, the bridge replacement will not require a shutdown of U.S. 52.
In fact, the state plans to keep all four lanes of traffic moving constantly during the work, with some short exceptions.
"We are constructing a temporary bridge on the west side of U.S. 52," said Pat Ivey, the division engineer for Division 9 for the N.C. Department of Transportation, which includes Forsyth. "Our plan is to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction. The only time it will be narrowed to one lane is when we have to do traffic shifts."
When the detour bridge is finished, Ivey said, southbound traffic will be moved over to the detour and the southbound bridge will be replaced. When that is done, northbound traffic will move to the new southbound bridge while southbound traffic keeps using the detour.
Finally, when the new northbound bridge is finished, traffic will all be shifted to the new bridges and the temporary bridge will be taken down.
The new bridges will be taller than the existing ones. The bridges were recently listed among the 20 worst bridges in the state by the AAA Carolinas.
Meanwhile, Liberty Street will be widened from three to four lanes underneath the U.S. 52 bridge and extending south to the 28th Street intersection. Liberty Street already has four lanes north of the bridge.
Because the ramp to Liberty Street from northbound U.S. 52 is being eliminated, drivers who use that ramp will have to instead exit U.S. 52 at the exit for 25th and 28th streets. The state will rework that interchange for better traffic flow by putting a stoplight where the exit ramps intersect with Cleveland Avenue and 28th Street. And 26th Street will be realigned slightly to the north so that it also comes into that intersection.
Tom McKim, the chairman of the Airport Commission of Forsyth County, said that ideally the direct ramp to Liberty Street and the airport would have been kept, but he said he understands why that will not work with the new bridge.
"It is a matter of engineering constraints," he said. "The plan is to substantially widen U.S. 52 and also to raise the highway by a significant amount, so a similar off ramp wouldn't work," he said.
The airport's main concern is that people can still find it, McKim said.
"We have talked with them (the DOT) about making sure that the signage is clear for people working their way to the airport," McKim said.
wyoung@wsjournal.com | 727-7369
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