Interstate 73/74

[tolbs17]

Something interesting relating to the specific design of the highway is that a 70 foot median will be used as opposed to the standard 46 foot median... NCDOT used 60-70 foot medians in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s, but then switched to 46 foot on most projects in the past 10 years.

Bring back the 70 foot medians! They are the best!!! I think 46 are a little too small.

[sprjus4]

Something interesting relating to the specific design of the highway is that a 70 foot median will be used as opposed to the standard 46 foot median... NCDOT used 60-70 foot medians in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s, but then switched to 46 foot on most projects in the past 10 years.

Bring back the 70 foot medians! They are the best!!! I think 46 are a little too small.

The feasibility study for I-87 recommended using 70 ft medians on the new location segments. The upgraded segments would only be 46 ft, but still plenty wide. That's due to having to have frontage roads within the right of way as well.

It'd be neat to see 70 ft medians used more often.

[LM117]

More upcoming lane closures on Business 40 due to the W-S Northern Beltway construction.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-10-business-40-forsyth-lane-closures.aspx

[tolbs17]

More upcoming lane closures on Business 40 due to the W-S Northern Beltway construction.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-10-business-40-forsyth-lane-closures.aspx

Would cause headaches..... I had a similar problem with the I-85 rebuild project where it would narrow down to one lane. I hate when those happen.

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-24-forsyth-business-40-west-lane-closure.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — One lane of westbound Business 40 in Forsyth County is set to close overnight.​​

The closure will be in place between the exits for South Main Street in Kernersville and Linville Road in Winston-Salem from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closing the lane will enable contract crews to safely complete work on bridges spanning over the highway and overhead signs.

This work is part of the project to tie Business 40 into the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway.

Drivers can use N.C. 66, Interstate 40 and U.S. 52 as alternative routes to avoid Business 40 while the lane closure is in place.

Those who travel through this work zone should slow down, be mindful of the work crews and anticipate the possibility of delays.

[wdcrft63]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-24-forsyth-business-40-west-lane-closure.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — One lane of westbound Business 40 in Forsyth County is set to close overnight.​​

The closure will be in place between the exits for South Main Street in Kernersville and Linville Road in Winston-Salem from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closing the lane will enable contract crews to safely complete work on bridges spanning over the highway and overhead signs.

This work is part of the project to tie Business 40 into the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway.

Drivers can use N.C. 66, Interstate 40 and U.S. 52 as alternative routes to avoid Business 40 while the lane closure is in place.

Those who travel through this work zone should slow down, be mindful of the work crews and anticipate the possibility of delays.

It seems odd that NCDOT always describes this road as Business 40 when that designation is slated to be retired when the project is complete. Wouldn't it be better to get everyone accustomed to calling the route US 421?

[bob7374]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-24-forsyth-business-40-west-lane-closure.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — One lane of westbound Business 40 in Forsyth County is set to close overnight.​​

The closure will be in place between the exits for South Main Street in Kernersville and Linville Road in Winston-Salem from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Closing the lane will enable contract crews to safely complete work on bridges spanning over the highway and overhead signs.

This work is part of the project to tie Business 40 into the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway.

Drivers can use N.C. 66, Interstate 40 and U.S. 52 as alternative routes to avoid Business 40 while the lane closure is in place.

Those who travel through this work zone should slow down, be mindful of the work crews and anticipate the possibility of delays.

It seems odd that NCDOT always describes this road as Business 40 when that designation is slated to be retired when the project is complete. Wouldn't it be better to get everyone accustomed to calling the route US 421?

You would think so, but NCDOT is slow even notifying other departments within the agency of route changes. It took the press office about 6 months or so after I-87 was signed along US 64/264 to start using that designation and not I-495. I am assuming at least that long after the Business 40 signs are removed for them to start using the US 421 designation only.

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-10-03-i-73-40-85-ramp-greensboro-closures.aspx

GREENSBORO — Closures are planned for two locations along I-73 in Guilford County this weekend.

The I-73 South bridge over I-40 is set to close from 11 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Saturday and again from 11 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Sunday while crews repair concrete pavement. A signed detour will be in place directing traffic to take I-40 West to Gallimore Dairy Road and then I-40 East back to I-73 South.

Crews also plan to close the I-85 North ramp to I-73 North from 12-8 a.m. Sunday to replace damaged concrete pavement slabs. The detour for that closure will follow I-85 North, South Elm-Eugene Street and I-85 South to return to I-73 North.

Drivers should slow down and be mindful of the crews working in these locations and plan ahead for slightly longer travel times because of the detours.

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-10-07-columbus-county-bridge-girders-us-74.aspx

WHITEVILLE — Traffic on U.S. 74/76 will be temporarily stopped this afternoon and tomorrow to allow an N.C. Department of Transportation contractor to safely set bridge girders for the Hallsboro Road interchange.

Law enforcement will assist in stopping traffic on the westbound side between 1 and 5 p.m. today and for the eastbound side during the same time on Tuesday. Traffic will be stopped for up to 30 minutes for each of the four girders that will be set up on each day.

NCDOT is upgrading the Hallsboro Road intersection east of Whiteville with an interchange that will include ramps and an overpass. The $9.4 million contract was awarded in 2018. The interchange will open by next summer.

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-10-16-business-40-lane-closure-forsyth.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — A lane of Business 40 in eastern Forsyth County is set to close overnight while contract crews prepare the road for upcoming paving.

One lane will close on the eastbound side near Hastings Hill Road, where work is underway to tie Business 40 into the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. The closure is scheduled from 8 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday.

Drivers should slow down and be mindful of the work crews in this area. They may also use N.C. 66, Interstate 40 and U.S. 52 as alternative routes​ to avoid Business 40 while the closure is in place.

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-10-16-peace-haven-us-421-ramp-closures.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — Overnight exit closures are planned as work continues on the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway project​.

The U.S. 421 South exit loop to Peace Haven Road is set to close from 11 p.m. Wednesday until 5 a.m. Thursday to finish outside widening work now that the old bridge has been demolished. Drivers should take the following exit at Jonestown Road and then U.S. 421 North to access Peace Haven Road during the closure.

From 10 p.m. Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday, the ramp from Peace Haven road onto U.S. 421 South is scheduled to close to tie in paving there. Drivers can take U.S. 421 North to Lewisville-Clemmons Road to get to U.S. 421 North.

Drivers should be cautious near the work zone and plan for extra travel time because of the detours.

[bob7374]

Well, at least they're slowly attempting to wean the public off the Business 40 designation. The first of today's 2 press releases uses Business 40, and east/west but the second uses US 421 and uses north/south. Wonder if they were written by the same person?

[bob7374]

NCDOT awarded the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass contract yesterday (10/17) to the firm of Vecellio & Grogan, Inc. of Beckley, WV with a bid of $146,176,682.77.
The award letter: https://connect.ncdot.gov/letting/Central%20Letting/10-15-2019%20Central%20Letting/C204368%20Richmond%20Awd%20Lter.pdf

[The Ghostbuster]

When will 73/74 connection with the US 74 (existing/future Interstate 74) Rockingham Bypass be completed? Maybe afterwards, they can start planning to design and construct the portion of Interstate 73 from the two 74s south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.

[mvak36]

When will 73/74 connection with the US 74 (existing/future Interstate 74) Rockingham Bypass be completed? Maybe afterwards, they can start planning to design and construct the portion of Interstate 73 from the two 74s south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.

According to the Project Proposal, it is April 29, 2024.

[tolbs17]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Pages/W-5706S-2019-10-09.aspx

why isn't this going to be a freeway?



And that shows a perfect example why they want I-74 going to Myrtle Beach and not Wilmington. Saying you want to upgrade all of US 74/76 to a freeway and yet they don't want to. And they want a Charlotte-to-Wilmington interstate!

[wdcrft63]

When will 73/74 connection with the US 74 (existing/future Interstate 74) Rockingham Bypass be completed? Maybe afterwards, they can start planning to design and construct the portion of Interstate 73 from the two 74s south to the North Carolina/South Carolina border.

Zero chance of any construction on the link to SC until SC is ready to build their end, and unless you're a teenager I wouldn't count on that happening in your lifetime.

[Bobby5280]

I've always thought I-20 should be extended farther East to Wilmington. I'm pleased to see the idea show up on a long term planning map. To me that's a bigger deal than extending I-74 toward Wilmington, but bending it down in a strange angled path to the Myrtle Beach area.

[LM117]

I've always thought I-20 should be extended farther East to Wilmington. I'm pleased to see the idea show up on a long term planning map. To me that's a bigger deal than extending I-74 toward Wilmington, but bending it down in a strange angled path to the Myrtle Beach area.

The I-20 extension was a proposal by then-Gov. Mike Easley back in the early 2000's, but SC basically told him to pound sand and the idea was dropped. Not sure why NCDOT is still showing the 2004 map.

The I-74 routing to Myrtle Beach never made sense to me because nobody in their right mind from Rockingham and points west (or north) would follow I-74's crooked routing to Myrtle Beach. They would drop down I-73. Same for those coming from I-95.

[RoadPelican]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Pages/W-5706S-2019-10-09.aspx

why isn't this going to be a freeway?



And that shows a perfect example why they want I-74 going to Myrtle Beach and not Wilmington. Saying you want to upgrade all of US 74/76 to a freeway and yet they don't want to. And they want a Charlotte-to-Wilmington interstate!

US 74/76 is going to be a freeway all the way to Wilmington, but not for at least 20-30 yrs, for right now and for the next 10 yrs, the priorities for that corridor is to upgrade the non freeway segment from Whiteville to Bolton and the short non-freeway segment just west of Boardman in Robeson.  Also, further west in Marshville (part) of that bypass is on the 10 yr STIP. 

The area of US 74/76 that is in this Public Meeting notice is for a 45 MPH urban section near the Columbus/Brunswick County line.  This is set to be upgraded to a Superstreet.  Lots of people are moving to this area so this is a short term need.   When US 74/76 gets a freeway in this area it will have to be on a new alignment.  The NCDOT has already spent millions of dollars just finishing the I-140 bypass of Wilmington, and getting ready to widen NC 87 to Elizabethtown in this area.

So US 74/76 is way down the list of priorities for this particular area.

[sparker]

I've always thought I-20 should be extended farther East to Wilmington. I'm pleased to see the idea show up on a long term planning map. To me that's a bigger deal than extending I-74 toward Wilmington, but bending it down in a strange angled path to the Myrtle Beach area.

Notice that the map is dated 15 years ago.  I-20 along US 76 from Florence to Wilmington was proposed by NC back then, but SC nixed the idea in favor of retaining the I-73 & I-74 "dual pincer" approach to Myrtle Beach, which itself was 9 years old by that time (the Interstate status of HPC #5 being conferred as part of the NHS act of '95).   For some odd reason (likely local politics) Wilmington was completely left out of that corridor's plans although it was only a few miles distant; instead Myrtle got both corridor segments directed toward itself (didn't know T-shirt vendors had that much pull!).   Of course when push came to shove, SC just didn't have the $$$ to even expand the concept beyond SC 22 & SC 31.  And for still another conundrum, NCDOT is planning the non-HPC section of US 74/76 east of Bolton as some sort of "superstreet" rather than a continuation of the freeway advancement seen further west under the I-74 aegis.   Seems like once corridor plans pass into SC -- or NC east of I-95 -- some sort of lunacy sets in -- "come with me, my child, to the magic land of Myrtle, where all your cares will be behind you!" -- but without actual passage to the place.   Perhaps back 20-some-odd years ago the powers that be within the SC tourist trap arena decided that Wilmington was a potential rival and that keeping their corridor away from there was at least as important as actually directing that corridor to themselves (i.e., they elected to play defense!). 

Now -- anyone who's read my posts should by now know I've concluded that politics and commercial interests are the principal drivers of new Interstate corridor development -- and that in reality the best anyone can do is to try to make a decent pitcher of lemonade out of the lemons being offered.   But the Carolina Coast situation is beyond the pale -- featuring the most ludicrous route alignment (I-74 over NC 211, aka the Swamp Thing) out there (makes I-14 look like a stroke of genius in comparison).  And NCDOT has promoted their "superstreet" upgrade of the current divided US 74/76 (given the current NC penchant for new I-corridors, upgrading the last few miles into Wilmington would seem to be a slam dunk; this last proposal is something of a "curveball").  Likely their planners are running into suburban sprawl west of Wilmington and are choosing to put their current funds into dealing with local needs and simply delaying the through route until a later time. 

What it'll probably take to rationalize the situation is the final piece of the Carolina coastal puzzle -- a N-S Interstate from south of Myrtle north generally following US 17 to the I-87 alignment at or near Williamston.  Essentially this "ties up" the current bundle of loose ends by providing a way to efficiently disperse the traffic from inland points.  It's increasingly evident NCDOT has come to this conclusion as well -- but with so many other projects on their plate has chosen to handle this as a series of spot improvements -- with full "hey, here's a new corridor" treatment only when others ahead in the queue are in the rear view mirror (and the state gets lucky with a natural-disaster-free extended period).  Of course, SC is the wild card here -- it's unclear if they, as a comparatively "low-tax" state, will ever have enough funds to complete even their portions of I-73/74.  The upshot when considering the region as a whole is that every few years a different set of plans and priorities seems to emerge, driven by forces and parties that weren't in the picture when the original 73/74 plans were first presented (such as the groups in SC trying to stop the I-73 corridor).  The final chapters of this saga have yet to be written -- or probably even conceived.  Stay tuned!               

[sprjus4]

I've always thought I-20 should be extended farther East to Wilmington. I'm pleased to see the idea show up on a long term planning map. To me that's a bigger deal than extending I-74 toward Wilmington, but bending it down in a strange angled path to the Myrtle Beach area.

It would be a pointless extension IMO, the current I-20 -> I-95 -> I-74 routing is adequate, especially once upgraded to full freeway.

[Bobby5280]

The I-20 extension was a proposal by then-Gov. Mike Easley back in the early 2000's, but SC basically told him to pound sand and the idea was dropped. Not sure why NCDOT is still showing the 2004 map.

These are supposed to be Interstate highways, right? Part of a national highway network, yes? I-20 isn't solely owned by South Carolina. Wilmington is a pretty significant coastal port. It would only make sense in the nation-wide, big picture perspective to improve the transportation hub there. I-20 would increase its effectiveness as a major East-West highway if it ended at a coastal port.

If SC wants to play games stone-walling an extension of I-20, I'm sure NC could return the favor by doing as little as it wants building I-73 and I-74 toward the SC border. Honestly, given the lack of involvement from the feds, NC could upgrade US-74/76 completely to Interstate quality between Wilmington and Lumberton and do nothing with the spur off toward the Myrtle Beach area. It's not like a lot of vehicles are even going to use that route.

It would be a pointless extension IMO, the current I-20 -> I-95 -> I-74 routing is adequate, especially once upgraded to full freeway.

Driving from Florence up to Lumberton and then back down to the Whiteville area is an angle that would add at least 20 miles to the drive versus more of a straight shot along/near the US-76 corridor from Florence.

I think extending I-20 to Wilmington makes more sense than building two redundant Interstates (I-73 and I-74) into the Myrtle Beach area -especially with how stupidly crooked the routes are turning out to be. Ugh!

[sprjus4]

Driving from Florence up to Lumberton and then back down to the Whiteville area is an angle that would add at least 20 miles to the drive versus more of a straight shot along/near the US-76 corridor from Florence.

Per Google Maps between I-20 west of I-95 and US-74 east of the US-76 junction.
I-20 -> I-95 -> I-74 ----- 1h 7m, 80 miles
US-76 ----- 1h 30m, 70 miles

If an interstate highway were to built along the US-76 corridor and have no overlap with I-95, you would have to construct a ~10-15 mile northern or southern bypass of Florence, then between North & South Carolina upgrade & built on new location about 60 miles of interstate roadway. With nearby cost estimates for I-73, you could assume about $2 to $3 billion total, with most of the cost being felt by South Carolina.

All of that to simply shave 10 miles off an existing interstate highway (once work along US-74 is completed by NCDOT) routing. It's a pointless project.

The I-95 routing may look circuitous on a map, but it's really not, and is far more efficient & faster than US-76, and an I-20 extension would not make much of a difference, except $2 - $3 billion down the drain.

I think extending I-20 to Wilmington makes more sense than building two redundant Interstates (I-73 and I-74) into the Myrtle Beach area -especially with how stupidly crooked the routes are turning out to be. Ugh!

The proposed I-74 freeway through the Green Swamp is just about as pointless as extending I-20 is.

The only projects I see as necessary are -
1) I-73 between Rockingham and Myrtle Beach
2) Carolina Bays Pkwy between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington
3) Widening I-95 to 6 lanes

The others are redundant and pointless IMO when existing freeways already handle the traffic (in the case of the I-20 extension), or two-lane roads are completely adequate to handle the 2,000 AADT that travel between Bolton and Shallote (in the case of the I-74 Green Swamp freeway).

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^^^
Within that particular region; there's a couple of additional projects I'd classify as necessary in the not-too-distant timeframe:

(1) I-74 extension eastward from Whiteville to at least I-140 near Wilmington, bypassing the "superstreet".
(2) Interstate-grade upgrade of US 17 north from Wilmington via Jacksonville & New Bern to I-87 at Williamston.
     Presently being done piecemeal; this would arguably do more for the commercial/developmental viability of the
     region than simply a series of "spokes" extending out from inland (I's 40,42,87).  The long-sought "coastal"
     Interstate, this would be further enhanced by (2A) a SC connection from the south end of SC 31 west to I-95 near
     Manning; incidentally, "pre-authorized" as an addition to the HPC #5 language.   But considering SC's seemingly
     perpetual fiscal shortfalls, the latter may not be viable in the near term.