TRAFFIC ALERT: Drivers get ready for weekend construction on 45 Bypass

JACKSON, Tenn. — Drivers get ready — the Tennessee Department of Transportation says this weekend is full of construction projects.

“Thursday and Friday on the U.S. 45 Bypass, we are going to have some lane closures so we can do some final paving, re-striping, to get that intersection there at the Casey Jones and Carriage House area aligned,” TDOT Spokeswoman Nichole Lawrence said.

It was congested on the 45 Bypass Thursday morning as traffic was stop and go.

Traffic on Interstate 40 will be affected too. From 2:30 a.m. until noon Saturday, traffic from I-40 will have to go up and over the exit ramps as crews work on the bridge.

It doesn’t stop there.

“You’re going to come into some lane closures intermittently on the 45 Bypass and on the interstate from 79 to mile marker 82 while they do some of the patching and paving,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence says she knows the traffic and delays can be annoying.

“We really try to do this at the best time when there is not much traffic,” Lawrence said. “I know it is not always possible to do that, which is why we are out there sometimes in the middle of the day.”

Officials are reminding everyone to be careful and drive slowly in construction zones.

“We want drivers to work with us so we can keep our people safe and the drivers safe,” Lawrence said.

There are other projects this weekend as well.

There will be continuing intermittent lane closures from I-40 to Old Hickory Boulevard and on Interstate 40 up until Monday for crews to pave the roads.

Lawrence says phase one of construction is on track to be completed around May 31.