Car-mageddon III: DDI striping creates huge backups on Catawba
March 17. Eastbound traffic on Catawba was backed up all the way to Jetton Road at 1 pm but only to Bethel Church Road at 2 pm as striping of the bridge over I-77 got under way in full swing.
On Facebook, one driver posted this when she was stuck opposite Maddi’s Fatti’s bakery: “At this rate I could just put it in park, run across the street and grab a cupcake and no one would know the difference.”
The bridge was closed last spring when the diverging diamond pattern was installed and again Jan. 10 when the decorative masts and cables were installed.
It looks like it’s best to avoid the area. Town officials said Police Chief Bence Hoyle is monitoring the “mess” on camera, and has plans in place to reroute EMS vehicles around the bridge. Cornelius Today Photographer Dave Vieser said traffic on Torrence Chapel Road was “backed up as far as the eye can see” at around 11 am. The DOT says there is another week to nine days of daytime striping work between 9 am and 4 pm.
-
- 3/17 11:00 p.m. – DOT’s paint crews are set up on the eastbound lanes at the Exit 28 DDI, closing lanes to traffic and causing delays similar to what motorists experienced last year.
-
- 3/18 10:20 – Workers with stop signs directing traffic
