[December 04, 2008] BRIEF: State official: Outerbelt could open Friday Tweet Dec 04, 2008 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A state representative who toured the newest leg of Interstate 485 this morning said he thinks the highway will open Friday afternoon. State Rep. Thom Tillis, a Cornelius Republican, drove the entire 5.5-mile segment this morning with the engineers from the N.C. Department of Transportation and representatives from Skanska, the contractor. He said any remaining punchlist items are supposed to be finished by this afternoon. He said he expects the highway to open Friday afternoon. Mark Hubbard, a Skanska spokesman, said he believes the Friday date is accurate. Jen Thompson, a spokeswoman for the N.C. DOT, couldn't be reached Thursday. The DOT has said it won't predict when the highway will open until it knows for sure. To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotteobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]