NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — More than 150,000 cars travel the interstate under the Arlington Avenue overpass every day, according to average daily total traffic numbers.
The bridge sits over I-24 and I-40 as the two busy interstate merge. But this weekend TDOT crews will repair a concrete beam after a truck carrying an oversized load hit the bridge and kept driving, leaving a damaged beam with exposed steel behind.
"It's more common than you would think. It shouldn't be. It's illegal to drive an oversized load in a non-permited route, but unfortunately it does happen more often than we would like," said TDOT District Operations Supervisor Greg Woerdeman.
To make repairs, TDOT crews will close down lanes and many of those drivers will need to find another route, starting Friday evening at 8 p.m.
Both routes affected are inbound, toward downtown. I-24 westbound will shut down completely and I-40 West will be down to one, slow-moving lane.
The closures will affect anyone heading downtown, coming in from the airport or trying to bypass the city to head north.
To avoid the closure, and the backup, you can use I-440 to I-65 to get to downtown Nashville. If you're bypassing the city and need to get to I-24 or I-65 north of town, use I-40 eastbound to Briley Pkwy.
If you pass the I-440 exit on I-24, you'll be forced onto I-40 EB by the closures anyway.
"Coming from Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Antioch that area those folks will be affected the most," Woerdeman explained. "They need to really plan ahead."
All lanes of traffic affected reopened by Sunday morning, according to TDOT.
