TDOT to close section of I-40 this weekend

Wkrn News Channel 2 Tenn. Dept. of Transportation Tennessee Department of Transportation engineers will close a short section of Interstate 40 Eastbound near downtown to continue work on three bridges this weekend.Crews will close the part of Interstate 40 Eastbound that stretches from the I-24/I-40 split near 2nd & 4th Avenues to the I-40/I-24 split near Spence Lane.The closure will begin at 8 p.m. Friday and end no later than 5 a.m. Monday. Eastbound traffic will be re-routed onto the Interstate 440, which loops the city's south side. TDOT did the same thing on the westbound lanes of Interstate 40, in the same viscinity, earlier this Spring. TDOT says it worked well then, and they hope for similar success this weekend. TDOT spokesperson B. J. Doughty said, "We have some very viable detour routes in I-440, Briley Parkway, and the last closure that we did on the westbound side went very, very well. We had very minimal problems, and so we hope that this is the better way to do it, to get in, and get it done in one weekend. "Crews will work to replace deteriorating concrete on three bridges this weekend, including one that crosses over Fairfield Avenue, another at Brown's Creek, and a third that crosses over the Interstate 24 ramp. They will also work to repair interstate entrance and exit ramps along the closed section. Visit the Tennessee Department of Transportation's Web site for more information on the bridge repair project.