As thousands of people evacuate from North Carolina before Hurricane Florence makes landfall, several changes have been made to highways and exit routes to make it easier for a mass exodus.
There have been lane reversals for several major highways to allow for a far greater volume of people to leave at once, as seen in the video below.
DOUBLE TAKE: Here’s something you don’t see everyday — traffic lanes are REVERSED in Columbia, South Carolina for easier evacuation ahead of #HurricaneFlorence 😦 t.co/9OcveY5b5a
However, traffic has already started to reflect congestion on Tuesday, the first official day of evacuation. Here’s what you need to know.
Traffic Increases Along Hwy 74 Out of Wilmington, N.C.
Mass Exit
On Highway 74 near Lumberton facing a long line of cars, trailers and boats of all size leaving coastal communities before #hurricaneflorence arrives. I’m from Wilmington and travel this route often. I’ve never seen traffic like this before.
Highway 74 is seeing extreme traffic as of 1 PM EDT, according to several reports and tweets from Twitter users.
To get immediate updates on road conditions as Hurricane Florence progresses towards the coast, you can check out the North Carolina Department of Transportations’ road condition page here.
The following tolls have been lifted indefinitely to increase speed of traffic:
- Chesapeake Expressway Rt 168 tolls lifted at the State Line VA/NC
- I-64 Express lane tolls are suspended from now until further notice. No HOV/E-ZPass requirements in effect.
- Jamestown-Scotland Ferry service suspended starting Wednesday at 10 a.m. until further notice.