CHINA GROVE – Sections of Interstate 85 are scheduled to close overnight over the next few weeks so N.C. Department of Transportation contractors can remove the 52-year-old bridge that formerly carried Old Beatty Ford Road across the highway.

The bridge closed on April 26. The road has been relocated to the north, where a new bridge over I-85 recently opened.

Starting at 9 p.m. Monday, the contractor closed the left lane of I-85 North just south of Exit 63 (Lane Street). All lanes of northbound I-85 will be closed between Lane Street and N.C. 152 from midnight until 6 a.m. today and Thursday.

Once the northbound side is completed, the contractor will begin dismantling the southbound section of the bridge by closing the left lane of I-85 South near Mile Marker 66 beginning at 9 p.m. Thursday. All lanes of I-85 South will then be closed from midnight until 6 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The contractor will also close the section of I-85 South overnight several more times over the next two weeks: from midnight until 6 a.m. May 13-14 and during the same hours May 21-23.

The ramp from N.C. 152 onto southbound I-85 will be closed during the I-85 South closure.

Signed detours for all closures will send drivers onto Lane Street, U.S. 29 and N.C. 152.

Drivers should slow down and use caution near the work zone and plan for extra travel time because of the detour.