Rain Delays Main Street Bridge Completion

Mother Nature is affecting the progress on the N.C. Department of Transportation project to replace the Main Street bridge over Campus Drive in Durham. It  serves as the main link between Duke University’s East and West Campuses.

A $1.9 million contract was awarded to replace the 63-year-old bridge with a structure that meets current design standards, including a higher clearance over Campus Drive.

The work was expected to take 130 days from its May 13 start, but because of issues with all the rainy weather the area has had this summer, the project is now expected to wrap up in late October.

The project has Main Street closed at Buchanan Boulevard east of the bridge. Traffic on the other side is able to access Southgate Circle. The Campus Drive underpass is open to two-lane, two-way traffic and will remain so unless work activities require a closure, and that would be limited to between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Traffic has been routed around the closure:

• Drivers going east on Main Street will take Swift Avenue to the Durham Freeway (N.C. 147) to Chapel Hill Street (Exit 13) to Duke Street to Main Street;
• Drivers going west on Main Street will take Gregson Street to Chapel Hill Street to the Durham Freeway to Swift Avenue (Exit 14) to Main Street;
• Trucks going South on Gregson Street will take Peabody Street to Main Street to Buchanan Boulevard to Chapel Hill Street to the Durham Freeway to Swift Avenue.

All detour and bus routes for the City of Durham’s Bull City Connector and the Duke campus bus service will remain the same.   

NCDOT reminds motorists to watch for signs for construction information, stay alert and obey the posted speed limit, and would like to thank the traveling public for its continued patience during construction. 

The bridge replacement is part of a series of improvements made along more than a mile of Main Street, including resurfacing and the addition of bike lanes. About 12,600 vehicles a day use this stretch of Main Street.

For more information, please contact NCDOT Assistant Resident Engineer Jamal Atkins at rjatkins@ncdot.gov or (919) 220-4680.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone. 

Learn more about Durham at www.durham-nc.com.