NC 42 bridge closing in Johnston County, part of I-40 widening project

The N.C. Highway 42 bridge at Exit 312 will close Friday night near Clayton in Johnston County, part of the Interstate 40 widening project south of Raleigh.

A contractor with the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is widening and redesigning the N.C. 42 bridge over I-40 and expanding the Cleveland Road interchange to five lanes, giving it access to I-40.

Beginning Friday at 9 p.m., the N.C. 42 bridge at Exit 312 will close for paving operations. It is scheduled to reopen Monday morning.

While the N.C. 42 bridge is closed, the ramp to enter I-40 West and the ramp to exit from I-40 East will remain open, and the Cleveland Road interchange will open for the first time to traffic to and from I-40.

This process will repeat the following weekend, April 26-29, if the weather cooperates. When the N.C 42 exit is closed, people should use the Cleveland Road exit to access N.C. 42.

According to Robert Bullock, an NCDOT engineer and the project manager, since Cleveland Road is less than a mile from N.C. 42, the new interchange will be Exit 312B, while the N.C. 42 junction will be adjusted to Exit 312A.

“We’re seeing tremendous growth in Johnston County, so constructing a new interchange will take some pressure off the N.C. 42 interchange and help us plan for the future traffic growth we are expecting,” said Bullock.

State data shows Johnston County’s population has grown by 8% in just two years, bringing more congestion. According to the NCDOT, the traffic volumes on N.C. 42 near Cleveland Road are forecast to increase by 29% to more than 40,000 vehicles a day by 2040.

The Cleveland Road interchange is not expected to permanently be open to I-40 until this summer as the overall I-40 widening project nears completion. People can find project details at this NCDOT website.

New traffic pattern at Exit 312 for N.C. 42

The N.C. 42 bridge at Exit 312 will be converted to a diverging diamond interchange, which allows two directions of traffic to temporarily cross to the left side of the road to move high volumes of traffic through an intersection more efficiently.

The new traffic pattern is expected to be implemented in late April.

Western Boulevard at Interstate 440 was converted to a diverging diamond interchange near Blue Ridge Road years earlier, becoming the first diverging diamond intersection in the Triangle.