CLAYTON – The N.C. 42 bridge over Interstate 40 in Johnston County is scheduled to close again at 9 p.m. on Friday.

When the bridge reopens Monday morning, it will be in its new diverging diamond interchange pattern, which allows two directions of traffic to temporarily cross to the left side of the road. It moves high volumes of traffic through an intersection more efficiently.

While the N.C. 42 bridge (Exit 312A) is closed this weekend, the Cleveland Road interchange (Exit 312B) will reopen to help alleviate the congestion and delays caused by the bridge closure. (These temporary changes were made last week, too.)

While the N.C. 42 bridge is closed, the ramp to enter I-40 West and to exit from I-40 East will remain open this weekend.

Come Monday morning, when the N.C. 42 bridge reopens, the Cleveland Road interchange will partially reclose, with these two exceptions:

• The I-40 West exit onto Cleveland Road will remain open
• The I-40 East on-ramp from Cleveland Road will remain open

The Cleveland Road interchange is not expected to permanently be open to I-40 until this summer as the overall I-40 widening project nears completion. People can find project details at this NCDOT website.

For real-time travel information, visit DriveNC.gov or follow NCDOT on social media