North Carolina

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT has announced it will replace the diamond interchange of I-85 with Main Street in Archduke (Exit 111) with a DDI. Construction is scheduled for 2021.
https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15373

[LM117]

NCDOT is holding a public meeting in Apex on June 21 to discuss superstreet-ing US-64 from just west of Laura Duncan Road in Apex to US-1 in Cary.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15357

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT has announced it will replace the diamond interchange of I-85 with Main Street in Archduke (Exit 111) with a DDI. Construction is scheduled for 2021.
https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15373

Archdale, darn it, not Archduke. I hate autocorrect.

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT is holding a public meeting in Apex on June 21 to discuss superstreet-ing US-64 from just west of Laura Duncan Road in Apex to US-1 in Cary.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15357

This is partly a super street plan, but in addition there are diamond interchanges at Laura Duncan and Lake Pine. It's more of an "urban expressway" plan. Worth a careful look.

[LM117]

NCDOT's press release about the Build NC bill headed to the governor's desk:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15350

Gov. Cooper is signing the bill this afternoon.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15378

EDIT: It's now law.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15350

[bob7374]

NCDOT will be holding an open house for the public to view changes to the design plan for the southern segment of the Fayetteville Outer Loop from I-95 to Camden Road (includes link to updated design map) on June 26:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15380

[cowboy_wilhelm]

NCDOT's press release about the Build NC bill headed to the governor's desk:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15350

Gov. Cooper is signing the bill this afternoon.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15378

EDIT: It's now law.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15350

Under Gov. Cooper's direction, the N.C. Department of Transportation has accelerated 350 highway projects and made room for an additional 144 projects in the current 2018-2027 transportation plan.

Has anyone seen that list of projects yet?

[cowboy_wilhelm]

NCDOT has announced it will replace the tight diamond interchange on I-40 at US 64 in Morganton with -- wait for it -- another tight diamond. On the bright side, there will be a new bridge over I-40, there will no longer be a surface street intersecting with the eastbound entrance ramp, and the intersection of US 64 with Ross Street will be pushed away from I-40.

As someone who encounters this interchange 4 times a day, I am disgusted.  "Input from business"  , I bet Days Inn threatened a lawsuit or the $18mil construction/$27 mil ROW cost for the SPUI was a non starter.  The last iteration that was worth a darn was the SPUI design we saw last fall.  There is so much left turn traffic at every leg of this junction.....there is sooo much fail here.  Please tell me that at least they are keeping the aux lanes on 40 between Enola Rd and 64.  I am really shamed at the watering down this project has taken in the last 24 months.

Was a SPUI ever considered? The only other options I saw from the public meeting maps were the loop that would have wiped out the trailer park and Days Inn, and the DDI. With RoW at a premium at this location, you'd think a SPUI would have been the best option.

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT has announced it will replace the tight diamond interchange on I-40 at US 64 in Morganton with -- wait for it -- another tight diamond. On the bright side, there will be a new bridge over I-40, there will no longer be a surface street intersecting with the eastbound entrance ramp, and the intersection of US 64 with Ross Street will be pushed away from I-40.

As someone who encounters this interchange 4 times a day, I am disgusted.  "Input from business"  , I bet Days Inn threatened a lawsuit or the $18mil construction/$27 mil ROW cost for the SPUI was a non starter.  The last iteration that was worth a darn was the SPUI design we saw last fall.  There is so much left turn traffic at every leg of this junction.....there is sooo much fail here.  Please tell me that at least they are keeping the aux lanes on 40 between Enola Rd and 64.  I am really shamed at the watering down this project has taken in the last 24 months.

Was a SPUI ever considered? The only other options I saw from the public meeting maps were the loop that would have wiped out the trailer park and Days Inn, and the DDI. With RoW at a premium at this location, you'd think a SPUI would have been the best option.

Seems like a perfect place for a SPUI.

[ARMOURERERIC]

I was able to view the SPUI plans on their website within the last 90 days.  It showed total demolition of everything on the west side of Burkemont from the community college intersection to the Lowe's entrance.  2 Lane exit and entrance ramps with aux lanes back to Enola Rd.  Double Lefts from Burkemont with 3 through lanes on Burkemont.  The only substandard issue was tight radii right ramps from 40w to Burkemont North and Burkemont n to 40 e.  This was due to an historic site behind the Carl's Jr and a substation behind the Exxon, both of which were to be demolished as well.  This final design will not cut it in 5 years.

[LM117]

A public meeting is being held in Morrisville on June 25 to discuss widening NC-54 between Shiloh Glenn Drive and Perimeter Park Drive, with additional turn lanes thrown in for good measure.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15353

––

In other Triangle area news, the DCHC MPO and NCDOT will hold a public meeting in Durham on June 26 to discuss the "Reimagining 15/501"  corridor study.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15354

[LM117]

There's a meeting in Wilmington on June 25 to discuss converting the Eastwood Rd/Military Cutoff Rd intersection to an interchange.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15391

[ccurley100]

I was driving Waterfalls Rd in Caldwell County which is an old alignment of US 321 south of Blowing Rock this afternoon. I found an abandoned section near the bottom of the mountain that curved back to the north and the current alignment of 321. Waterfalls Rd turned to gravel at this point and I had to use it and Kirby Mountain Rd to get back to 321 at the base of the mountain north of Lenoir. I'll have to go back and check it out this winter when it isn't quite so overgrown. https://photos.app.goo.gl/tXKFwY84MRYjMnk28


iPhone

[ARMOURERERIC]

When one looks at the project score, at what score does a project become a definite?

[HazMatt]

I was driving Waterfalls Rd in Caldwell County which is an old alignment of US 321 south of Blowing Rock this afternoon. I found an abandoned section near the bottom of the mountain that curved back to the north and the current alignment of 321. Waterfalls Rd turned to gravel at this point and I had to use it and Kirby Mountain Rd to get back to 321 at the base of the mountain north of Lenoir. I’ll have to go back and check it out this winter when it isn’t quite so overgrown. https://photos.app.goo.gl/tXKFwY84MRYjMnk28


iPhone

If it's where I think it is around where the pavement ends, that was likely a construction entrance when they were 4-laning that stretch of 321 around 2000.  They did a lot of work on that slope prior to blasting the area above.

[ccurley100]

It was where the pavement ended. Thanks!


iPhone

[Great Lakes Roads]

Video detailing on the I-485 express lanes project and other future express lanes projects that could come in the near future...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlI89BUaRH0

[wdcrft63]

The CSX rail/truck intermodal cargo hub near Rocky Mount is back on, with definite construction plans announced, but it will be less than half the size of the facility previously discussed. NCDOT will put in even more money, some $118 million for road development. 1300 jobs will be created.
https://www.wral.com/downsized-csx-cargo-hub-on-track-in-rocky-mount/17662027/

[sparker]

The CSX rail/truck intermodal cargo hub near Rocky Mount is back on, with definite construction plans announced, but it will be less than half the size of the facility previously discussed. NCDOT will put in even more money, some $118 million for road development. 1300 jobs will be created.
https://www.wral.com/downsized-csx-cargo-hub-on-track-in-rocky-mount/17662027/

Not surprised to see it back in some form; the original plans were back-burnered when Hunter Harrison (a notorious cost-cutter) was CEO; after his passing, it seems a number of CSX expansion initiatives have been reactivated by his successor.  Given its location as a collection point for NC ports to the CSX N-S main line, it was a "natural".  With the downturn in coal shipments, CSX (as well as competitor NS) is becoming increasingly more dependent upon distribution of containerized cargo -- and will likely increase capital expenditures on means of facilitating such. 

[LM117]

The CSX rail/truck intermodal cargo hub near Rocky Mount is back on, with definite construction plans announced, but it will be less than half the size of the facility previously discussed. NCDOT will put in even more money, some $118 million for road development. 1300 jobs will be created.
https://www.wral.com/downsized-csx-cargo-hub-on-track-in-rocky-mount/17662027/

Here's the press release from NCDOT, which includes a map showing exactly where the hub will be located:

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15414

Even at a smaller size, this is still very welcome news for Rocky Mount & eastern NC. Nice to see jobs coming to areas of the state that actually need them for a change.

[sparker]

The CSX rail/truck intermodal cargo hub near Rocky Mount is back on, with definite construction plans announced, but it will be less than half the size of the facility previously discussed. NCDOT will put in even more money, some $118 million for road development. 1300 jobs will be created.
https://www.wral.com/downsized-csx-cargo-hub-on-track-in-rocky-mount/17662027/

Here's the press release from NCDOT, which includes a map showing exactly where the hub will be located:

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15414

Even at a smaller size, this is still very welcome news for Rocky Mount & eastern NC. Nice to see jobs coming to areas of the state that actually need them for a change.

From the map shown it looks as if NC 4 will be extended so that it directly serves the new facility, providing a direct I-95 connection.  If it functions as described -- a "traditional" container terminal, it'll likely work in two ways -- transferring from trucks to trains (presumably to supply containers from ports lacking CSX trackage, such as Morehead City, served by NS, as well as outbound containers filled within the region) -- but also the inverse -- offloading trains from major centralized ports (Wilmington, Savannah, and Jacksonville to the south and pretty much any major port city to the north, including Norfolk) onto trucks for local destinations -- with a relatively booming NC economy, this would likely be a given. 

[TimQuiQui]

Video detailing on the I-485 express lanes project and other future express lanes projects that could come in the near future...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlI89BUaRH0

"Could" being the key word. NCDOT postponed a meetingon doing this last yeat, it sat awkwardly on the Public Meetings page for over a year, and has never been rescheduled. MUMPO still lists the project as beginning later this year at last check but it does not look like that milestone is gonna happen.

[LM117]

Tolls are going up on the Southport-Fort Fisher ferry.

https://apps.ncdot.gov/newsreleases/details.aspx?r=15425

WILMINGTON — The North Carolina Board of Transportation Thursday approved a request from the Cape Fear Rural Planning Organization and the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization to increase tolls on the N.C. Ferry System's Southport-Fort Fisher ferry route.

The toll for a vehicle less than 20 feet in length will go from $5 to $7, tolls for vehicles between 20 feet and 40 feet will go from $10 to $14, and tolls for vehicles larger than 40 feet will go from $15 to $28. However, the toll increase will not affect commuter passes, which will remain at $150 per year. Tolls for pedestrians, bikes and motorcycles will remain the same.

Under a law passed by the General Assembly in 2013, all toll changes must be requested by local transportation planning organizations and approved by the Board of Transportation. Revenue raised by a tolled route automatically goes into a Vessel Replacement Fund for that specific route.

The new tolls will take effect August 15.

This is the first toll increase on any ferry route since 2002. The fare increase does not affect fares for any other ferry route.

[ccurley100]

The cynic in me says thinks putting roundabouts on NC 218 is a way to get people to use the 74 toll bypass of Monroe when it opens. https://twitter.com/unioncountync/status/1013835962105913344?s=12


iPhone

[wriddle082]

Ok so did NCDOT decide NOT to suspend unnecessary lane closures during this holiday week like SCDOT and other state DOTs have wisely chosen to do?  I got stuck on 77 north in Uptown Charlotte briefly tonight for the usual overnight 3-lane closure that I usually beat every night, which I was not expecting.  Or is this project exempt due to the fact that this stretch of 77 was sold out in the name of private toll revenue?