I-285 North Carolina

[froggie]

IIRC, at the time there was a lot more development proposed between Winson-Salem and Greensboro, which may still be the case.  Would be an alternative to I-40 especially considering that 40 is basically maxed out between 421 and 73 now...not really going to get anything more in between there.

[fillup420]

Am I the only one here wondering what the fate of US 311 will be in all this?

[WashuOtaku]

Am I the only one here wondering what the fate of US 311 will be in all this?

There have been plans, for years, to complete the Exit 196 interchange, creating a new road north connecting to US 311 along New Walkertown Road.  In theory, that would be the new alignment for US 311, bypassing its weird routing through Winston-Salem.  However, with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway being built, that has firmly taken a backseat and may likely never be built.

[bob7374]

Am I the only one here wondering what the fate of US 311 will be in all this?

There have been plans, for years, to complete the Exit 196 interchange, creating a new road north connecting to US 311 along New Walkertown Road.  In theory, that would be the new alignment for US 311, bypassing its weird routing through Winston-Salem.  However, with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway being built, that has firmly taken a backseat and may likely never be built.

Perhaps as a replacement for that alignment it could be routed along the Bypass with I-74 to the US 311 exit under construction.

[WashuOtaku]

Am I the only one here wondering what the fate of US 311 will be in all this?

There have been plans, for years, to complete the Exit 196 interchange, creating a new road north connecting to US 311 along New Walkertown Road.  In theory, that would be the new alignment for US 311, bypassing its weird routing through Winston-Salem.  However, with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway being built, that has firmly taken a backseat and may likely never be built.

Perhaps as a replacement for that alignment it could be routed along the Bypass with I-74 to the US 311 exit under construction.

Maybe, but I doubt NCDOT will request it. Honestly, I rather see it decommissioned at this point, it's redundant.

[Takumi]

Ideally it would become US 360 north of Winston-Salem and just be I-74 south of it.

[wdcrft63]

Ideally it would become US 360 north of Winston-Salem and just be I-74 south of it.

Excellent idea.

[The Ghostbuster]

It may be an excellent idea, but it is also a very fictional one. The US 311 designation is not going anywhere.

[sparker]

It may be an excellent idea, but it is also a very fictional one. The US 311 designation is not going anywhere.

Now that it's (barely) a 2-state route, it wouldn't be likely that a designation change would be forthcoming in the near future; that'd involve NCDOT, VADOT, and AASHTO -- and they all have better things to do.  Maybe in 15-20 years when I-74 is fully developed in the W-S area, the matter will be revisited -- but don't hold your breath!

[Mapmikey]

It may be an excellent idea, but it is also a very fictional one. The US 311 designation is not going anywhere.

Now that it's (barely) a 2-state route, it wouldn't be likely that a designation change would be forthcoming in the near future; that'd involve NCDOT, VADOT, and AASHTO -- and they all have better things to do.  Maybe in 15-20 years when I-74 is fully developed in the W-S area, the matter will be revisited -- but don't hold your breath!

Converting US 311 to US 360 was brought to VDOT's attention by another poster in this forum at the time the CTB was discussing the US 311 extension into Virginia.  My recollection was that the idea was not dismissed out of hand, though it was in the context of what to do with the VA 311 designation.  Since they ultimately did nothing on that front there isn't as much a need from Virginia's standpoint to renumber US 311 - they seem to be okay with both US and VA 311 being present.

[bob7374]

According to a post in the Facebook group SERoads, I-285 signs are going up along US 52 south on Winston-Salem. Here's the post with a photo, admittedly rather blurry, of one of the new signs (replacing the Business 85 shield along the southernmost section):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/seroads/

[The Ghostbuster]

I was wondering when Interstate 285 would be signposted along the US 52 corridor. Also, will the exits along the corridor eventually be renumbered, or will they stay the same?

[Strider]

I was wondering when Interstate 285 would be signposted along the US 52 corridor. Also, will the exits along the corridor eventually be renumbered, or will they stay the same?

Definitely renumbered in the future. I don't know when it will happen.

[Roadsguy]

Is NCDOT still planning to take I-285 up to the Northern Beltway after upgrades are complete?

[jcarte29]

Is NCDOT still planning to take I-285 up to the Northern Beltway after upgrades are complete?

It's speculated by some of our forums here and the W-S Journal, but any confirmation is still years away anyways.

[wriddle082]

According to a post in the Facebook group SERoads, I-285 signs are going up along US 52 south on Winston-Salem. Here's the post with a photo, admittedly rather blurry, of one of the new signs (replacing the Business 85 shield along the southernmost section):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/seroads/

Indeed, went to W-S up US 52 today then back to Charlotte, and just about every reassurance assembly I saw had an I-285 shield included.  None of the BGSs along either I-40 or I-85 have been updated, or the one overhead pull-thru sign NB at the Green 85 split in Lexington.  Most of the shields were normal-sized, since they were included with at least 2 other shields, but I did see one larger shield going SB where it's only multiplexed with US 52.

[rickmastfan67]

Does anybody know if the exit numbers are going to be changed to I-285 numbering, or keep US-52's?

[wriddle082]

Does anybody know if the exit numbers are going to be changed to I-285 numbering, or keep US-52's?

The very first exit number I saw, which looked like a fairly new sign, appeared to be based on US 52 because it was 82.  Most exits are unnumbered at this time.

[bob7374]

Here's a couple photos of the new I-285 signage, courtesy of Strider. The first photo is of a large I-285 shield installed where it runs only with US 52:


Here's where the I-285 shield replaced Business 85 on the section routed with US 29/52/70 in Lexington:


Other photos can be found on my I-285 in NC webpage:
http://www.malmeroads.net/ncfutints/fut285.html

According to Strider, the shields are only on the road itself, not on BGSs or at the entrance ramps. Hopefully, they'll move faster here than they have with I-87 in Raleigh.

[WashuOtaku]

Here's where the I-285 shield replaced Business 85 on the section routed with US 29/52/70 in Lexington:

Is Christmas coming early, will NCDOT decommission I-85 Business? Or is it a sad hidden concurrency now?

[Roadsguy]

Here's where the I-285 shield replaced Business 85 on the section routed with US 29/52/70 in Lexington:

Is Christmas coming early, will NCDOT decommission I-85 Business? Or is it a sad hidden concurrency now?

Oh hey, I didn't even notice that in the picture the other day. Has signage of Business 85 been removed from the I-285 stretch?

[WashuOtaku]

Oh hey, I didn't even notice that in the picture the other day. Has signage of Business 85 been removed from the I-285 stretch?

In all seriousness, let us not assumed they have officially removed I-85 Business until something official; it still shows on their internal maps dated as of October, 2018.

[TimQuiQui]

I doubt it's decommisioned - 85B follows 29-70 away from the 285-52 split through Lexington and High Point, so I'm certain it's sticking on the short section to between the split and I-85 to keep it a Business "Loop"

[Roadsguy]

Has it actually been confirmed that the Lexington—High Point section of Business 85 will be removed as well? With the Greensboro section and Business 40 in Winston-Salem being removed, it's not too unlikely...

I suppose the final I-285 BGSes will let us know for sure.

[jcarte29]

Has it actually been confirmed that the Lexington—High Point section of Business 85 will be removed as well? With the Greensboro section and Business 40 in Winston-Salem being removed, it's not too unlikely...

I suppose the final I-285 BGSes will let us know for sure.

Well if anyone has noticed the green 85 shieds are slowly disappearing from overhead BGS and only on ground mounted signs, such as each side of 85 split in Greensboro and the (now 285/52) / Green 85 split in Lexington.