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Traffic on Midway Road in Brunswick County will be detoured for months starting this Monday, when work will begin to replace a bridge between Gilbert Road and Lewis Loop Road.
Traffic will be diverted via Gilbert Road and U.S. 17 Business/Old Ocean Highway, which connects with Midway Road. The detours will be in place until late May, according to a notice from the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The 62-year-old bridge was scheduled to be replaced last spring, but the project was delayed due to concerns about effects on summer tourism business in nearby Oak Island and the loss of the road as a hurricane evacuation route. Those concerns have been addressed with the new project schedule, DOT said in the notice, released Monday.
“The N.C. Department of Transportation and the contractor worked out a new construction schedule so the closure isn’t in place during the summer or hurricane seasons,” the notice said.
The bridge is considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, according to DOT. “That means it has remained safe for use, but is in deteriorating condition and needs to be replaced. It was also built to design standards such as lane width that are no longer in use,” the notice states.
The project is part of the state-funded Bridge Improvement Program that involves $810 million over four years “to strategically perform preservation or rehabilitation work when possible.”
The bridgework is the latest in a statewide effort to preserve and improve aging bridges in North Carolina. Projects in Brunswick County thus far have included a bridge on Galloway Road, the N.C. 133 bridge at Oak Island, the N.C. 904 bridge at Ocean Isle Beach, and the N.C. 130 bridge at Holden Beach.
Motorists are advised to watch for construction signs and to stay alert and obey posted speeds in the project area.
