Traffic on I-24 will be shifted Saturday morning between the 55 and 65 mile markers in Caldwell and Trigg counties to the newly paved sections of the interstate.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the shift will occur between 7 and 10 Saturday morning to the newly constructed westbound lanes. This traffic shift will leave only short sections of one-lane traffic for westbound travelers — one near the 65 mile marker west of the Cadiz exit and one near the 56 mile marker at the Blue Springs exit in Caldwell County. These short sections of one-lane traffic will remain in place while the contractor works to remove median crossovers.
Eastbound traffic is expected to remain one-lane for several more weeks while the median crossovers and centerline barrier are being removed. The state transportation cabinet says the eastbound restriction should shorten day-by-day and added their goal is to remove all of the centerline barriers in time for Christmas travel if time and weather conditions allow.
In addition, the westbound exit ramp at the Kentucky 139 Blue Springs exit will reopen once the westbound traffic shift is completed.
The year-long construction project has seen several crashes and truck fires in the 10-mile stretch of interstate. Road closures from those crashes and fires forced the state to use rural state and even county roads for detours which led to other crashes and large trucks to overturn.
Hall Contracting of Kentucky is the prime contractor on the $17.3 million concrete pavement project.
