North Carolina

[Henry]

Why aren't I surprised about this? I-77 should've been widened years ago!

[LM117]

Google Maps has updated their satellite images. It's now showing construction of the Greenville Southwest Bypass between the US-264/Stantonsburg Road interchange (Exit 73) and NC-11 just south of Ayden.

[Mileage Mike]

I also see that Google Maps is showing US 264 as I-587

[LM117]

I also see that Google Maps is showing US 264 as I-587

Yeah, Google Maps has been showing that for about a month now, despite the fact that it hasn't been added to the Interstate system yet and only has "Future I-587" signs posted.

[ixnay]

Google maps is showing wb Bryan Blvd. (by the Triad Airport in Greensboro) as being closed for construction (eb is open).  What's the project?

ixnay

[dfilpus]

Google maps is showing wb Bryan Blvd. (by the Triad Airport in Greensboro) as being closed for construction (eb is open).  What's the project?

ixnay

Bryan Boulevard is being converted to I-73. The interchange with Airport Parkway is being rebuilt to connect with the new segment of I-73 that heads west to NC 68 to connect with the new section of I-73 (NC 68/US 220 Connector) that opens tomorrow (5/18/2017).

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/futureI73/

[Mppheel]

Drove through Fayetteville today on 95.... The interchange with NC 24 seems quite elaborate. I rarely see cars exiting or entering.  Was it designed with something else in mind!

[bob7374]

Google maps is showing wb Bryan Blvd. (by the Triad Airport in Greensboro) as being closed for construction (eb is open).  What's the project?

ixnay

Bryan Boulevard is being converted to I-73. The interchange with Airport Parkway is being rebuilt to connect with the new segment of I-73 that heads west to NC 68 to connect with the new section of I-73 (NC 68/US 220 Connector) that opens tomorrow (5/18/2017).

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/futureI73/

Photo of construction on closed section of Bryan Blvd. taken on Saturday (5/20) courtesy of Strider:

[OracleUsr]

I decided to go to Greensboro Saturday night to see the new I-73 section.  Really cool little stub route I must say.

I then ventured eastward to the I-785/840 conglomeration and started noticing a lot of new signs on I-85/40, especially eastbound.  Does anyone know if it's mere coincidence that the new signage seems to stop at the Guilford/Alamance county line between Whitsett and Elon?  I ask because it looks like Exit 138 (NC 61/Gibsonville) was the last exit with the 2012 MUTCD style signage and then it goes back to 90's style signage for Exit 140 (University Drive/Elon).

That goofy style they had between Mount Hope Church Road and the first guide sign for NC 61 (basically what looks like Helvetica with some odd spacing) is almost history now.  Not sure how I feel about that, because seeing those old signs reminds me of the daily commute between Greensboro and RTP while waiting for housing to open up.  Then again, I like the more modern style signs.

I'll save my tirade about the gratuitous upgrade of Exit 220 eastbound I-40 (Randleman Road/Old US 220) for later.

[BrianP]

Drove through Fayetteville today on 95.... The interchange with NC 24 seems quite elaborate. I rarely see cars exiting or entering.  Was it designed with something else in mind!

I think it's mostly to serve NC 24 east of there since they are upgrading NC 24 between I-95 and Clinton.  Fayetteville seems to be better served from I-95 via Business I-95 or NC 87 than NC 24. 

[wdcrft63]

Drove through Fayetteville today on 95.... The interchange with NC 24 seems quite elaborate. I rarely see cars exiting or entering.  Was it designed with something else in mind!

I think it's mostly to serve NC 24 east of there since they are upgrading NC 24 between I-95 and Clinton.  Fayetteville seems to be better served from I-95 via Business I-95 or NC 87 than NC 24.

Both NC 24 (Fayetteville to Jacksonville and Morehead City) and NC 87 (Fayetteville to Wilmington) are on the NCDOT list as Strategic Transportation Corridors. NC 24 carries a fair amount of truck traffic between Fayetteville and the coast, I believe.

[bob7374]

NCDOT has (finally) released their 2017-2018 State Transportation Map:
https://www.ncdot.gov/travel/mappubs/statetransportationmap/

From my first look at it, it appears to be a map that not very successfully tries to depict NC roadways as of Jan.1 2017. Unfortunately, they released it almost 5 months later, meaning for many routes, it's already out of date. For example, on the state map, I-73 north of Greensboro still shown as under construction and I-73/I-74 is shown neither under construction nor extended further south in Ellerbe. Meanwhile it still has I-74 signed on the Rockingham Bypass and it also shows US 74 between the Rockingham and Lauringburg as a freeway. As for other errors spotted, an erroneous I-495 shield is shown on US 64 east on the Franklin/Nash county line, not correct, even if the route still officially exists. US 17 appears on the Wilmington Bypass, though it has been offficially moved back through Wilmington, plus the NC 140 part isn't even shown and the rest of the route is not shown as under construction. For the insets, the Triad map has I-73 north of I-40, but no I-840, an I-840 shield appears on the eastern Loop, but no I-785 (the I-73 Bryan Blvd exit is listed as 108, not 107). I-495 also appears on the Triangle inset. Elsewhere, the new exit in Holly Springs on NC 540 is not shown and there's a Toll NC 147 shield on the Durham Freeway. No exit numbers are listed for NC 295 on the Fayetteville inset. US 74 Monroe Bypass not shown as under construction on the Charlotte inset.

Given all this, IMO the map is the "worst of both worlds", one that is a late, thus out of date, but that appears to have been rushed to publication without enough time for an adequate proofreading check. Unfortunately, drivers will be stuck with it for 2 more years.

[Mapmikey]

Also missing is NC 906 and the NC 37 extension south to US 64.

They also continue to show NC 281 with unpaved sections which is no longer true - fully paved throughout...

US 17 is shown correctly in Wilmington (using US 421 north to I-140) assuming they haven't signed their approved request to send US 17 back through Wilmington.

[LM117]

NCDOT has (finally) released their 2017-2018 State Transportation Map:
https://www.ncdot.gov/travel/mappubs/statetransportationmap/

[wdcrft63]

Also missing is NC 906 and the NC 37 extension south to US 64.

They also continue to show NC 281 with unpaved sections which is no longer true - fully paved throughout...

US 17 is shown correctly in Wilmington (using US 421 north to I-140) assuming they haven't signed their approved request to send US 17 back through Wilmington.

There have always been some problems with these maps, but this is way too many errors.

[NE2]

Why the need to label 'end of 78' on the Sanford inset?

[fillup420]

The Wilson inset has US 117 overlapping I-795/US 264 to I-95, which is not true. US 117 ends at US 301.

[LM117]

NCDOT really needs to start paying attention to the maps they put out.

[Strider]

NCDOT really needs to start paying attention to the maps they put out.

I think whoever designed this map is way behind... or did the work without contacting NCDOT to double-check... but that is the worst map I ever seen. too many route mistakes....

[LM117]

A transportation bill that would create a fund for large-scale projects is moving through the Senate.

http://www.wral.com/megaproject-bill-moves-on-despite-opposition/16734499/

A bill that would create a new fund for large transportation projects is moving through the Senate despite what appeared to be a vote against it in the Senate Transportation committee Wednesday.

Backed by House Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. John Torbett, the megaproject recommendation came from an interim House committee tasked with finding solutions for long-term transportation needs. The provision was tacked onto an agency bill, House Bill 110.

Torbett, R-Gaston, explained that the fund would be used for projects that are large in scale with a price tag too high to work under the Strategic Transportation Investment plan, or STI, structure that state lawmakers approved several years ago. STI has a $200 million cap on projects. Using the repaving of Interstate 95 as an example, Torbett said, "You would have to carve up a $4 billion project into $200 million dollar projects to get it fixed."

House Bill 110 would create the fund but doesn't put any money into it. Torbett suggested that the General Assembly in the future might consider raising a tax to fund such megaprojects outside the regular transportation budget. "We did not choose to go the revenue route in this session," Torbett noted.

"This is simply a tool in a tool box," he added. "It does nothing to upset the STI."

Sen. Kathy Harrington, R-Gaston, was uncharacteristically blunt in her opposition to it.

"This is the single worst piece of legislation I've seen in the years I've been here," Harrington told Torbett, saying the STI had been enacted to take transportation funding decisions out of the hands of politicians. "This puts it right back in ... this goes right behind the back of the STI."

Sens. Wesley Meredith, R-Cumberland, and Joyce Krawiec, R-Forsyth, seconded Harrington's opposition to the provision.

"I think this goes outside the STI and allows a group of people to decide where the dollars go," Meredith said. "I'm not supportive."

But Sen. Bill Rabon, one of the STI's chief architects, nonetheless said he would vote for it "with trepidation."

"This does fly into STI, and of all the legislation I've worked on the last six years, I'm most proud of that," said Rabon, R-Brunswick.

But citing the work of the interim committee, he warned that, without some mechanism for large statewide projects, the current transportation budget would be hard-pressed to cover them.

Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon, called for a voice vote. Several more noes than ayes were audible, but Davis announced the bill would move on to the Senate Rules Committee.

"Are you saying it passed?" asked Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham, quizzically.

"It passed," Davis replied.

EDIT: The Senate killed the bill.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20170601/megaproject-bill-killed-by-nc-senate

[orulz]

I would rather they just add more money to the STI  program. This is the first time ever that I really have the feeling that NC is making the right transportation investments. Would be a shame to take billions of dollars and put it back in the hands of politicians.

Some revisions to the program may make sense, the corridor cap is indeed too low to cover the needed upgrades to I-95. But don't make a separate pork barrel slush fund.

[bob7374]

NCDOT has awarded the contract to build the next section of the US 74 Shelby Bypass (Future I-x26?), a segment from NC 226 to NC 150:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/NewsReleases/details.aspx?r=13903

[ARMOURERERIC]

NCDOT has awarded the contract to build the next section of the US 74 Shelby Bypass (Future I-x26?), a segment from NC 226 to NC 150:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/NewsReleases/details.aspx?r=13903

Wish this would not take so long, 5 years!!  I will actually get alot of benefit from this.  They have yet to pave the section West of 226, I figure that they will do all the grading/structures out east to 150, then pave.  I also hope that the next sections will soon follow because with this done and open, both 150 and 180 easteast bound will get swamped as a Shelby bypass.  US 74 through Shelby is such an unmitigated mess.

[LM117]

I'm 99.99% sure US-74 will eventually become an I-x26. NCDOT usually doesn't build roads to interstate standards unless they intend on requesting an interstate designation. The older existing US-74 freeway will still need shoulder widening, though.

I would definitely support an I-x26 here since it would give an interstate connection between Charlotte and Asheville (via connections to I-85 & I-26).

[sparker]

I'm 99.99% sure US-74 will eventually become an I-x26. NCDOT usually doesn't build roads to interstate standards unless they intend on requesting an interstate designation. The older existing US-74 freeway will still need shoulder widening, though.

I would definitely support an I-x26 here since it would give an interstate connection between Charlotte and Asheville (via connections to I-85 & I-26).

Rather than consign the western (I-26>I-85) to a 3di -- and given the recent history of new NC Interstate designations -- I think that NCDOT will seek an even 2di for this section as well as the toll facility paralleling US 74 east of Charlotte (possibly a relocation of their previous US 70 selection, I-36, since it's an unused number in the state -- and this time it's grid-appropriate so it may pass muster).  This would provide Charlotte with an E-W Interstate route for the first time -- even if it has to sit on top of part of I-485 to circumvent the central city.  They'll include Monroe-Rockingham in their application, but without a set developmental timetable.