Overnight I-26 eastbound closures planned near Exit 33 in Buncombe County

Eastbound Interstate 26 closed overnight between Exit 33 and Exit 37 on June 23 and June 24, forcing drivers onto Brevard Road and Long Shoals Road while crews worked on the highway surface near south Asheville. The closure ran from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and covered the stretch between Brevard Road, also known as Exit 33, and Long Shoals Road, Exit 37.

The overnight timing limited the disruption for daytime traffic, but it still fell hardest on overnight workers, delivery drivers and early-morning commuters who rely on that corridor to move between Buncombe County neighborhoods and the wider Asheville area. NCDOT posted a marked detour that sent traffic down Brevard Road, or N.C. 191, then east on Long Shoals Road, N.C. 147, before rejoining I-26. Crews used the dry-weather windows to diamond-grind the riding surface and apply new pavement markings.

The work was part of a much larger widening project that covers about 16.9 miles of I-26 from U.S. 64 in Hendersonville to Brevard Road in Asheville. NCDOT has said final operations on the widening project were expected in late 2026, and another piece of the job, the new interchange at Exit 35 connecting I-26 to Frederick Law Olmsted Way, was also expected to be finished by the end of the year. Major construction has continued in the corridor between Long Shoals Road and Brevard Road as the agency tries to keep traffic moving through south Asheville.

The June shutdown was the latest in a long series of construction-related changes on one of Buncombe County’s most important travel corridors. In October 2025, traffic shifted to a new permanent Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over I-26 so the old bridge could be removed, opening the way for the contractor to move into the next phase. NCDOT also opened new permanent lanes in April 2025 while work continued elsewhere in the corridor.

That same broader rebuild reaches beyond the eastbound closure near Exit 33. The City of Asheville says the separate I-26 Connector project will connect I-26 in southwest Asheville to U.S. 19/23/70 in northwest Asheville, a roughly 7-mile project with five sections. Asheville and Buncombe County had pressed for sound barriers and pedestrian, bicycle and neighborhood connections in the Connector plan, and reporting in 2024 said NCDOT awarded a $1.1 billion contract for the main sections.