View Johnston County U.S. 301 bridges in a larger map

The state Department of Transportation says it will hold a public information session Tuesday to discuss plans for replacing two bridges on U.S. 301 south of Smithfield.

The meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Pentecostals of Smithfield Church, 3020 S. Brightleaf Blvd., Smithfield. Engineers will answer questions about the project and discuss detour routes. Both bridges were constructed in 1926 and are classified as functionally obsolete.

The two-lane bridges, about one mile apart, carry about 11,000 cars and trucks each day. Tentative plans call for construction to start in the summer of 2015 on the U.S. 301 bridge over Holt's Lake, followed by construction of the U.S. 301 bridge over the Neuse River. Each bridge will be closed and traffic will be detoured for about six months.

Construction began this fall a few miles away on a replacement for the U.S. 70 Business bridge over the Neuse River, at the western edge of downtown Smithfield. The bridge is expected to reopen in the summer of 2013.