Expect 'parking lots' on Knoxville interstates this weekend

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A five-mile section of I-40 will look more like a parking lot than an interstate this weekend.

TDOT crews have prepared to continue bridge work between West Hills mile marker 380 and the I-640 interchange mile marker 385. The work begins Friday night at 8:00 p.m. and will end on Monday at 6:00 a.m.

The work comes during a very busy Knoxville weekend with Spring Break travelers, the women's NCAA tournament at Thompson Boling Arena and St. Patrick's Day festivities downtown. TDOT explained Wednesday that resurfacing work needs to be done in this area, but before the resurfacing work can be done, bridge repairs must be made. Mark Nagi, spokesperson for TDOT, explained why the work can not be done overnight.

"Resurfacing work has to take place, before that work does happen you have to take a look at the bridges to see if concrete needs to be repaired, so right now they are hammering out the old ones and pouring in new concrete work. When that's done, the resurfacing work can begin,"

Nagi said.

"For this work specifically, that concrete needs time to cure - you can't just do it 10 hours overnight, leave it, then go back another 10 hours later. You need to have a couple of days without any traffic on that roadway for this work to take place,"

Nagi said.

Weather permitting, the weekend work could continue for the next four weeks, with the exception of Easter weekend. Nagi said the area between mile marker 380 and 385 is one of the most traveled roadways in East Tennessee, with an estimated 190,000 vehicles per day passing through.