Road crews will be closing the Interstate 40 eastbound off-ramp at N.C. 42 (exit 312) in the Cleveland community on Saturday morning, as well as several lanes of N.C. 42 near the intersection.
From 7 a.m. till about 1 p.m. Saturday, drivers heading out of Raleigh and Garner who need to get off at N.C. 42 will have to stay on the interstate until McGee's Crossroads, then exit and get back on I-40 in the opposite direction.
That's about 14 miles out of the way, so I'd suggest taking the U.S. 70 Clayton bypass to N.C. 42, or getting off in Garner and taking N.C. 50 depending on where you're headed.
Also, three westbound lanes of N.C. 42 will be closed from the I-40 overpass to the off-ramp, so there'll be just one lane of traffic going each way. Back-ups are likely.
"It's going to be a big inconvenience for about five hours," said N.C. Department of Transportation engineer Marcus Lee.
What's the occasion? Lee says it's the last stage of a widening project. Crews are finishing work on a second left-turn lane for drivers headed off the interstate and going east on N.C. 42. They're also extending the right turn lanes back so cars have more space to back up during the afternoon rush hour.
On N.C. 42 itself, they're doing some pavement improvements in the westbound lanes.
The other three ramps at Exit 312 won't be affected by Saturday's project.
