Crashes spike 200 percent in I-40 Orange County construction zone, NC Troopers say

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — As temperatures soared to 102 degrees in the Triangle Saturday afternoon, North Carolina Trooper E.M. Haynes was already dealing with his third crash of the day along a troublesome stretch of Interstate 40 in Orange County.

Crews are adding a lane in each direction along nearly 11.5 miles of I-40 in Orange County from the Durham County line to the Interstate 85 split.

As construction continues in its third year, wrecks along the zone are skyrocketing, Haynes said.

Vehicle crashes in the stretch are up 200 percent from last year, Haynes said Saturday after working a three-car crash at one of the “bottlenecks” along the construction zone.

In Saturday’s wreck around 2 p.m., the driver of a Lexus SUV crashed into completely stopped westbound traffic, sending two people to the hospital, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The driver of the Lexus was driving with his family of five in the SUV at the time — and Haynes suspected “distracted driving” was to blame in the crash near Erwin road.

The Saturday wreck was somewhat typical of the crashes Haynes said he sees.

“It bottled necks right there,” Haynes said about the area of I-40. “We see a lot of people coming from different states — they don’t know the bottleneck is there. Many local people are beginning to realize it.”

Two wrecks earlier in the day were in the eastbound lanes of the construction zone — where the project is expected to continue into 2025, according to Haynes and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The earlier crashes Saturday weren’t as serious, but still stopped traffic along the construction zone, which is lined with concrete barriers and various lane shifts.

With the limited lane areas, wrecks are harder to clear and move traffic past, leading to major back-ups. Some drivers have resorted to using two-lane roads near I-40 such as N.C. 86, Whitfield Road and Mount Moriah Road.

Some motorists are even taking I-85 and continuing through Durham on interstate-style highways to eventually rejoin I-40.

The massive widening project also includes re-working various interchanges along I-40, the NCDOT said.

Parts of I-40 that are being widened have more than 80,000 vehicles per day, according to 2019 numbers from the NCDOT.

Before the widening project began, the NCDOT said special efforts would be taken to deal with crashes — including extra traffic cameras and message boards for drivers about wrecks. However, it’s unclear if some of the plans are working or being fully implemented.

According to the NCDOT: “the department will deploy Incident Management Assistance Patrol (IMAP) and towing resources in the vicinity of the Interstate to quickly respond and remove wrecked, abandoned or disabled vehicles. These initiatives will ultimately reduce congestion and delays in the work zone.”

The widening project is expected to be completed in late 2025.