EMERALD ISLE – Lane closures will resume tonight on the Emerald Isle Bridge (N.C. 58) for bridge preservation work, and they will continue through next spring.
A contractor for the N.C. Department of Transportation will be allowed to close one of two lanes at 7 p.m. and be required to reopen the lane by 6 the following morning, seven days a week. (Rain could postpone a nightly lane closure.)
The closures are scheduled to begin tonight and last through Oct. 31 under this schedule; then the contractor will follow a different schedule into the springtime.
However, no lane closures will take place Sept. 23-24 and Oct. 21-22 due to special events.
The contractor will follow this schedule for a lane closure starting Nov. 1, lasting into next spring when the bridge work is expected be completed:
- Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; then again from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
- Saturday and Sunday – 24-hour lane closure
As with most highway contracts, there will be no lane closures on the bridge during the holiday periods of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
When a lane is closed, flagging operations will be used to allow traffic from each direction to take turns crossing the bridge, so drivers should expect delays and proceed cautiously in the work zone.