The "Future" I-26 is arriving finally

[edwaleni]

I laughed as I drove through Asheville, NC recently and noticed the "Future" I-26 signs through town.

It was obvious why the name had been around because the narrowness, the geometries, exit ramp styles all screamed old and non-compliant.

Well, apparently 2021 is the year it begins the process of losing its "Future" moniker and becomes the "current".

https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/asheville-i-26-connector/Pages/default.aspx



The approximately 7-mile project involves three sections:

Section A, which involves upgrading I-240 (as well as interchanges at Brevard, Amboy and Haywood roads) from the I-26/I-240 interchange with I-40 to the I-240 interchange with Patton Avenue west of the French Broad River.
Section B, which includes building the interstate on a new location from the Patton Avenue interchange north across the French Broad River, tying into U.S. 19/23/70 south of Broadway.
Section C, which involves improvements to the I-40 interchanges with Smokey Park Highway, I-26/I-240 and Brevard Road.

The I-26 Connector would be a median-divided, fully controlled-access freeway accessible only via interchanges. To reduce the required right-of-way, there would be a barrier median dividing opposing directions of travel.

But it is going to take awhile to get it all sorted out.

2021 - Property acquisition and construction begins on building I-26 on a new location from the Patton Avenue interchange to U.S. 19/23/70​
​2022 - Property acquisition and construction begins on  upgrading I-240
​​2025 - Property acquisition and construction begins on the I-40 interchanges with Smokey Park Highway, I-26/I-240 and Brevard Road​   

[Rothman]

Hm.  In NY, ROW acquisition starts a year before PS&E.  Wonder how it happens in NC, with acquisition and construction in the same year.

[Henry]

About time this project got started! Hopefully, the rest of the Future route will be upgraded soon as well.

[Rothman]

Hm.  In NY, ROW acquisition starts a year before PS&E.  Wonder how it happens in NC, with acquisition and construction in the same year.

I really shouldn't post at 1 a.m....

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Those project pages on NCDOT's website are always out-dated. The project is a "progressive" design-build and the first section isn't scheduled to be let until October 2023 now. R/W acquisition should start in 2022. The I-26/I-40 interchange revisions have been delayed until 2029. NCDOT's finances have been in trouble since 2018, and COVID has made things MUCH worse. At nearly a billion dollars, I'll be surprised if it starts in 2024, although it appears NCDOT is securing hundreds of millions in bond funding for the project.

The future revisions north of Asheville (A-0010) had been scheduled for this year or next, but that project has been delayed to 2026.

36 MONTH TENTATIVE DESIGN-BUILD LET LIST (NOVEMBER 2020 - OCTOBER 2023)
Current STIP
Part of I-26 Connector could be delayed, DOT says

[wdcrft63]

By the time it's finished, this intensely NIMBY'd project will be more than half a century in the making.

[Buck87]

Well, whenever they get to it, I'm glad to see the new location portion will be the first thing done

[The Ghostbuster]

It's about time! The existing Interstate 26/240 freeway is not only a substandard four-lane highway, it also looks hideous. Hopefully, once the reconstruction project is complete, it will look a lot better.

[CtrlAltDel]

Those project pages on NCDOT's website are always out-dated. The project is a "progressive" design-build and the first section isn't scheduled to be let until October 2023 now. R/W acquisition should start in 2022. The I-26/I-40 interchange revisions have been delayed until 2029. NCDOT's finances have been in trouble since 2018, and COVID has made things MUCH worse. At nearly a billion dollars, I'll be surprised if it starts in 2024, although it appears NCDOT is securing hundreds of millions in bond funding for the project.

The future revisions north of Asheville (A-0010) had been scheduled for this year or next, but that project has been delayed to 2026.

I was all excited for a moment, but this post brought all that crashing down. Ouch.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Those project pages on NCDOT's website are always out-dated. The project is a "progressive" design-build and the first section isn't scheduled to be let until October 2023 now. R/W acquisition should start in 2022. The I-26/I-40 interchange revisions have been delayed until 2029. NCDOT's finances have been in trouble since 2018, and COVID has made things MUCH worse. At nearly a billion dollars, I'll be surprised if it starts in 2024, although it appears NCDOT is securing hundreds of millions in bond funding for the project.

The future revisions north of Asheville (A-0010) had been scheduled for this year or next, but that project has been delayed to 2026.

I was all excited for a moment, but this post brought all that crashing down. Ouch.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I didn't want anyone to get too excited. Everything was on track a couple of years ago. Hurricanes and other crazy rainfall events the past couple of years, plus the Map Act lawsuits decimated NCDOT's budget before the gas tax revenues nose-dived this year.

Here's the September 2020 revisions to the STIP showing the delays and the proposed bond amounts (BUILD NC for section A and GARVEE for section B).

They also updated the Project Breakdown Map on Thursday to reflect the new dates.

By the time it's finished, this intensely NIMBY'd project will be more than half a century in the making.

With an estimated 114 residential and 35 business relocations, it will quite literally be in a lot of people's back yards. This is a $1 billion project for 5 miles of highway (which yes, could have cost a lot less had it been done 25 years ago).

[architect77]

Those project pages on NCDOT's website are always out-dated. The project is a "progressive" design-build and the first section isn't scheduled to be let until October 2023 now. R/W acquisition should start in 2022. The I-26/I-40 interchange revisions have been delayed until 2029. NCDOT's finances have been in trouble since 2018, and COVID has made things MUCH worse. At nearly a billion dollars, I'll be surprised if it starts in 2024, although it appears NCDOT is securing hundreds of millions in bond funding for the project.

The future revisions north of Asheville (A-0010) had been scheduled for this year or next, but that project has been delayed to 2026.

I was all excited for a moment, but this post brought all that crashing down. Ouch.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I didn't want anyone to get too excited. Everything was on track a couple of years ago. Hurricanes and other crazy rainfall events the past couple of years, plus the Map Act lawsuits decimated NCDOT's budget before the gas tax revenues nose-dived this year.

Here's the September 2020 revisions to the STIP showing the delays and the proposed bond amounts (BUILD NC for section A and GARVEE for section B).

They also updated the Project Breakdown Map on Thursday to reflect the new dates.

By the time it's finished, this intensely NIMBY'd project will be more than half a century in the making.

With an estimated 114 residential and 35 business relocations, it will quite literally be in a lot of people's back yards. This is a $1 billion project for 5 miles of highway (which yes, could have cost a lot less had it been done 25 years ago).

Could you find out when the final section of US401 to Louisburg begins construction? The section being built now probably will be finished in a year.

However I think I saw somewhere that the final 6-7 miles to Louisburg wouldn't begin construction until 2029 which is very upsetting to me.

[silverback1065]

i never understood why 26 was signed east west. it never goes east west ever!

[hotdogPi]

i never understood why 26 was signed east west. it never goes east west ever!

What odd nonduplicate number would you give it?

[silverback1065]

i never understood why 26 was signed east west. it never goes east west ever!

What odd nonduplicate number would you give it?

31

[tjcreasy]

Unfortunately there aren't any duplicate N-S interstate numbers available within the grid.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

i never understood why 26 was signed east west. it never goes east west ever!

Never say never.



Why is everyone so hung up about the numbering of I-26? That comes up in every discussion about I-26. Nobody ever mentions I-85 running more east-west than north-south and why it isn't an even numbered Interstate.

[hotdogPi]

Nobody ever mentions I-85 running more east-west than north-south and why it isn't an even numbered Interstate.

I actually have seen that complaint several times before.

[fillup420]

I think the reason 85 and 26 are numbered as such has to do with the coastline. It is common to think of the east coast as running north-south, despite that not always being the case. So the highways are numbered according to how they run relative to the coast. I-85 roughly parallels the east coast from I-95 to Atlanta, and I-26 runs perpendicular to it, especially in SC. I may be talking out my ass but it helps the numbers make more sense to me.

[Roadgeekteen]

How dang long has this interstate been future?

[wdcrft63]

How dang long has this interstate been future?

About 30 years, since the approval of extending the interstate from Asheville to Tennessee. Prior to that extension I-26 only ran from Asheville to Charleston SC, so it looked more east-to-west then than it does now.

[Roadgeekteen]

How dang long has this interstate been future?

About 30 years, since the approval of extending the interstate from Asheville to Tennessee. Prior to that extension I-26 only ran from Asheville to Charleston SC, so it looked more east-to-west then than it does now.

But when did it become not-future in Tennesse?

[CtrlAltDel]

How dang long has this interstate been future?

About 30 years, since the approval of extending the interstate from Asheville to Tennessee. Prior to that extension I-26 only ran from Asheville to Charleston SC, so it looked more east-to-west then than it does now.

But when did it become not-future in Tennesse?

I-181 became I-26 in Tennessee in 2003, when the freeway in western (well, you know what I mean) North Carolina was completed.

The main engineer, or one of the main engineers, of that project had a numbingly detailed web site of the construction of that bit of I-26, which I found absolutely fascinating, but I can't seem to find it anymore.

[silverback1065]

is it supposed to go further north than tennessee?

[NJRoadfan]

https://web.archive.org/web/20130704092327/http://a10.jlansford.com/

[edwaleni]

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/04/26-connector-project-faces-delays-ncdot-schedule-revision/5690588002/