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.

At a public information meeting Monday, NCDOT and the city of Raleigh will air their refined plans for overhauling the obsolete interchanges that carry Capital Boulevard over Peace Street and under Wade Avenue in downtown Raleigh. (See story in Saturday's N&O with reader comments.)

NCDOT has information on a dedicated website for its Capital Boulevard bridges project, but the site has not been updated to include the six design options that will be submitted for public comment at Monday's meeting (5-7 p.m.,  Progress Energy Center, Fletcher Opera Hall lobby, 2 E. South Street).

For the latest on the current options, see the most recent project newsletter and a handout prepared for Monday's meeting, both attached below to this blog post.

Documents:

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Some commuters in western Wake County will face the choice of driving a free, four-mile detour during construction of a new bridge on Green Level Church Road -- or paying a toll for a shorter detour that will open about the same time.

The state Department of Transportation says it has awarded a $2.5 million contract to S.T. Wooten Corp. of Wilson to replace the 60-year-old Green Level Church Road bridge over White Oak Creek at the Cary-Apex town limits.

The contract gives Wooten the option to start work between Aug. 1 and March 1, 2013, with completion in 240 days. While the bridge is closed during construction, drivers will have a detour of four miles via Green Level West, Wimberly and Jenks roads. ... [MORE]

View Brunswick beach bridges in a larger map

NCDOT has opened a new bridge to replace the old one at Sunset Beach, and it is preparing to open another new bridge that will provide a second mainland link to Oak Island.

The Sunset Beach bridge, which opened Thursday, is a half-mile long and 65 feet high. The bridge connects the Brunswick County island to N.C. 179 a few miles north of the South Carolina border.

The $31 million Sunset Beach bridge has wide shoulders to provide paths for bicyclists and pedestrians. It replaced an old swing bridge that had to be opened by an operator to allow boats to pass through on the Intracoastal Waterway.

NCDOT said it will open a new $37 million bridge this weekend or early next week on the west end of Oak Island, to provide a fifth highway bridge between the Brunswick County mainland and islands.

It will be the second bridge connecting Oak Island to N.C. 211, using a widened Middleton Avenue.  It will relieve summer traffic jams on the existing bridge on N.C. 133 at the east end of Oak Island.