Traffic woes in store for Cornelius

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Thousands of drivers will have to deal with lane closures in a couple weeks on a busy road in Mecklenburg County.
 
The closures will last for at least the next four months, at Exit 28 in Cornelius.
 
The North Carolina Department of Transportation will build a diverging-diamond interchange to help traffic flow.
 
Residents learned it will be much worse before it gets better.
Business owners and those who live in around Cornelius got up to speed on big traffic changes coming to the city.
 
At the town hall, citizens listened to Tyler Beardsley with the town of Cornelius talk about closures in the coming weeks at Exit 28 over Interstate-77. 
           
"(We'll be) showing people the impacts of traffic and ways to detour around the bridge during the weekend closure," Beardsley said.

The first change will be at Catawba Avenue's bridge that will close from midnight June 20, to 8 a.m. June 22.

Once the bridge reopens, traffic will flow with one lane in each direction and those closures will last four to five months until Nov. 1 -- the scheduled completion date for the diverging-diamond interchange.

Carole May came to the meeting to find out how her business would be affected.
 
She owns the gift store BB Gallini's in downtown Cornelius.
               
"It's not going to be fun but we have to make it work, it has to be done," May said.
 
Beardsley said while traffic will be slower than normal, people have to remember the permanent solution to come will "be worth it. It'll be very efficient and very safe."

May hopes people don't get too frustrated with the trip.

"We just have to encourage people to take alternate routes and do everything we can to promote downtown Cornelius," May said.

WSOC