New lanes are now open along I-26 in Buncombe and Henderson counties. Drivers will see four lanes from US-25 to Airport Road and three lanes from Airport Road to Long Shoals Road.
News 13 spoke to Mike Patton, the project's resident engineer, about what it took to get to this point and what still needs to be done.
A: "By opening more lanes, we bring more traffic to the interstate. Traffic was traveling somewhere and they would have been taking roads like US-25 or other side roads to avoid the traffic on I-26. So we're taking that traffic off of the smaller roads and putting it on a bigger one, and that helps everybody."
A: "COVID, material shortages, weather at times. The hurricane recently really put a hurtin' on us. We went through a lot in the last five years."
A: "We certainly hope it speeds everything up for everybody and makes it a whole lot easier to get to where you're going. This has been a long time coming, and it's been needed for a long time. Anybody who drives I-26 regularly can tell you we've needed this for 15-20 years."
A: "It started originally with the bridges. There are five overpass bridges that all had to be redone [and] three large bridges on the stretch of interstate here that had to be redone. Widening, making sure that we kept as much open as possible for the people still using the road while we were under construction – a lot of challenges like that."
A: "In Henderson County, we are almost finished. We will probably wrap this up and put a big bow on it by July. We still have some permanent striping to do – snowplow markers, rumble strips, that kind of thing. Construction will continue in Buncombe County for a little while. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a very tough location if anybody's seen that bridge. Adding the Exit 53 has prolonged that project a little bit, so they'll still be construction in Buncombe County for the next six months to a year."
A: "When I get a complaint, we try to address it right off the bat. The traveling public will often see things that we either haven't seen or don't see. I'll give you an example: We had some issues with some of the striping because of the way the sun hits it in the morning. You couldn't see it. So, we tried to immediately address that. But, if somebody hadn't called me and said 'hey' at six o'clock in the morning when the sun comes up, you can't see anything.' Then we might not have known about it for two weeks."
A: "It's a lot safer now and we appreciate everybody putting up with us during construction. I know it hasn't been easy for the traveling public and neither for us but I hope now that people can see the end product, they see what we were striving for."
STORY & PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC 13 WLOSNew lanes open on I-26 will ease traffic and improve safety, NCDOT resident engineer says
