The planned replacement of the bridge near East Campus this summer will require vehicles to find alternate routes and painters to find alternate walls.
Starting May 13, the portion of West Main Street along East Campus will close for five months to accommodate the Main Street bridge replacement project. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has been planning for three years in collaboration with the University to replace the bridge. Although construction began last summer, NCDOT delayed further work until May 13, the Monday after commencement weekend, to minimize impediments to the high traffic on and around campus.
The bridge joins Main Street over Campus Drive. Built in 1950 to allow passage between East and West campuses, it is now due for replacement.
“That doesn’t mean the bridge is unsafe,” said Robert Atkins, assistant resident engineer with NCDOT. “We’re just putting in a more modern, standard bridge with a more modern design.”
Since the University owns Campus Drive, Duke had to create an easement to allow NCDOT to work on campus. The easement will permit NCDOT to use the road for construction on the bridge, which is owned by the state.
The University created the timeline for the project and recommended that NCDOT postpone finishing the bridge replacement until the day after graduation weekend. This allows for minimal conflict with Duke traffic and transportation and for NCDOT to ready their contracts and materials and “hit the ground running” once construction starts, said Floyd Williams, project manager of the facilities management department.
When construction begins May 13, NCDOT will put up a hard closure at the intersection of Buchanan and Main Street through which no cars will be allowed, as well as a soft closure at Main Street and Swift Avenue to allow for access to Southgate Dormitory, Atkins said. Drivers will have limited access through the soft closure and should expect delays.
“Even in the summer, it will make a huge difference because East Campus has a lot of summer camps. There’s not going to be too much relief,” Williams said.
Duke has studied NCDOT’s rerouting and traffic patterns and is trying to reduce the amount of local traffic going through East Campus, Williams noted.
Duke’s bus routes will also be affected by the construction. Bridge demolition is scheduled to occur for two to three weeks in late May and early June, and the bridge underpass will be closed during this time. Once demolition is completed, the traffic will be opened up on Campus Drive with two lanes of traffic.
During construction of the new bridge, however, there will be times when Campus Drive must be closed. Duke’s contract with NCDOT stipulates that Campus Drive closures will only occur at night. At these times, as well as bridge demolition, buses will be rerouted to Main Street and then to Buchanan and Maxwell Avenue behind Smith Warehouse to access West Campus, Williams said.
NCDOT will notify Duke 48 hours in advance of Campus Drive closures, and updates on the construction and route changes will be available on the Bull City Connector website, DukeToday and TransLoc.
The TransLoc bus tracking system has the capability of providing real-time announcements, and signs at affected bus stops will direct passengers to alternate stops, Sam Veraldi, director of Parking and Transportation, wrote in an email Thursday.
“It’s going to be a little painful,” Williams said, “but we’re trying to mitigate that as best we can.”
The project will take a hiatus to leave Campus Drive open for traffic during Freshman Move-in in August.
“We’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming, trying to think of every issue, every situation,” Williams said. “Communication is key to get information to the Duke community, so students, faculty and staff will know how to get to and from East Campus with minimum disruptions.”
The construction will also prevent bridge painting by first-year advisory counselors as part of freshman orientation.
“While painting the bridge has definitely always been a valued tradition used to welcome first-years to campus and start fostering some dorm pride, we are excited to work with our FACs and FAC Board to develop a new tradition that can be carried on alongside bridge painting,” senior Derek Lindsey, co-chair of the FAC Board, wrote in an email. “Luckily, the construction is temporary so the Class of 2017 will still be able to enjoy the use of the bridge while they’re here on campus.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.