Business 40 is closing in November. If you haven’t made your plans to get around Winston-Salem, you may want to attend a public Open House to receive some direction.
Open Houses will be held at the following Winston-Salem locations:
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. – BB&T Ballpark, 951 Ballpark Way
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 4:30-7:30 p.m. – Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, 251 N. Spruce Street
The same type of information will be available at both meetings. Attendees will receive pocket-sized detour maps of downtown Winston-Salem and will be able to ask questions about the project.
Representatives from the Piedmont Authority Regional Transportation (PART) and Winston-Salem Transit Authority (WSTA) will have information about their innovative programs.
To help drivers, PART has expanded its bus routes and is offering discounts for individuals and companies wanting to provide transportation for employees. WSTA has developed a guaranteed ride program to enable eligible park ‘n ride passengers to get a cab free of charge, in the event of a personal illness or family emergency.
The public will have an opportunity to step aboard buses and vans from WSTA and PART to see how they look and feel.
“We have been talking about the closure for more than a decade – and it’s coming next month,” said Pat Ivey, NCDOT Division Engineer. “There is no more waiting until tomorrow to find out how to get around. Everybody needs to plan two routes, a Plan A and a Plan B to get where they need to go.”
Business 40 will be closing between Peters Creek Parkway and US 52 for more than a year. The following bridges will be closed at various times during construction: Fourth Street, Broad Street, Brookstown Avenue, Marshall Street, Cherry Street, Liberty Street, Main Street and Church Street.
While the Spruce Street bridge will be permanently closed, new bridges for the Downtown Strollway and Green Street pedestrian bridge will be built during the closure.
NCDOT has been working with a lengthy list of stakeholders, including hospitals, emergency management, emergency services, universities, major employers, real estate agents, apartment complexes, local governments and small downtown business owners, for the past several years to prepare them for the closure.
“There are 80,000 vehicles on Business 40 every day. We know half of those drivers are local and will be impacted by the closure,” said Ivey. “We want to help them find their way around.”