We are delighted to announce here that, at least officially, the  nearly 13-mile segment of the I-26 widening project between Airport Road and Upward Road is functionally complete in Henderson County. 

The Henderson County widening to four-lanes project actually covers 9.1 miles, but a portion of I-26 was widened to three lanes from Asheville Highway to the Chimney Rock Road interchange, and the two-lane highway was improved between CRR and Flat Rock’s Upward Road exit, for a total of 13 miles. 

Some final tasks, such as installing snow-plowable markers and completing signage — requiring overnight road closures — were finished on the Henderson County I-26 stretch by Aug. 2... and there — reportedly — will be no more full highway closures after that.

Now that the main construction is finished — all lanes are open from Airport Road to Flat Rock — and the Henderson County segment of I-26 is a delight to traverse. (While the new lanes actually opened in April, there were a number of final details that needed to be completed.)

The project is considered a success, according to everyone with whom we at the Daily Planet have spoken.

With the completion of the Henderson County section, work crews will be able to shift their focus on the I-26 widening project in Buncombe County, according to Michael Patton, resident engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“The stretch (about 7.8 miles) through Buncombe County” — extending from Exit 40/Airport Road westward to the I-40/240 interchange — “still has to sort out some things that Henderson County crews didn’t,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on July 29.

“It’s not apples to apples,” Patton told News 13 in an interview. “They’re two completely different projects. The Blue Ridge Parkway bridge posed its own set of issues and problems– the same things with crossing the French Broad River.”

To that end, News 13 stated in its story, “it’s not just drivers who are happy about I-26’s completion” in Henderson County.

The TV station then quoted Patton as saying, “We’re ready to be done. Now, we move on to hurricane work. I’m ready to be done with I-26.”

Thanks, NCDOT, and we, too, are super-excited by the prospect of the completion soon of the I-26 segment between Airport Road and Asheville.