KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — More than two years of road closures and construction are set to wrap up on Aug. 31 in East Tennessee.
Interstate 640 has been under heavy construction since 2022 as part of phase 2 of a road revitalization project.
Crews will work on Rutledge Pike Bridge starting on Friday. After that, they'll resurface the road and construction will be complete.
There will be traffic shifts and ramp closures starting Aug. 7. TDOT's spokesperson, Mark Nagi, said it's nothing new for those who have been driving on the highway for the past two years.
Nagi encourages drivers to pay attention to changes and stay up-to-date by following TDOT's social media posts.
Construction on the project began with the first phase in 2021. That part of the project focused on the western corridor between I-275 and I-40. In July 2022, the second phase of construction started on I-40, east of Knoxville. A year later, crews laid the first layer of asphalt. Then in October 2023, weather and engineering changes delayed the project.
The project was originally supposed to be completed about a year ago. But, it was extended once TDOT realized more work needed to be done.
"We realized that there were going to be bridge repairs that were going to be necessary. So that was added on to this project. We decided to do that because we didn't want to have to go back a couple of years from now and close lanes again when we already had concrete barriers in place," Nagi said.
He said he appreciates everyone's patience while crews have worked to complete this phase.