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Interstate 87 (NC-VA)

Started by LM117, July 14, 2016, 12:29:05 PM

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sparker

Quote from: LM117 on July 27, 2021, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: cowboy_wilhelm on July 27, 2021, 06:17:06 PM
The I-87 projects did not receive any INFRA grant funding (again). North Carolina didn't get anything this year.

https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/financing/infra-grants/infrastructure-rebuilding-america

Not surprised about I-87, but I do wish that some federal dollars would be sent for the new alignment Neuse River crossing for I-795.

Seems like the freeway-related projects listed fall into a few categories:  rehabilitation (e.g. I-90/SD), local service augmentation (I-25/NM, new interchange and connector), and addressing urban problems (I-70/71/Columbus) largely stemming from '50's and '60's design.  Not much in the way of upgrading non-freeways into freeways (the US 17 portion of I-87) or simply raising working and ostensibly non-deteriorated facilities to Interstate standards (the US 64 portion).  Since this funding round precedes the omnibus infrastructure bill that, at this writing, may or may not be working it way through Congress -- but does reflect at some level administration priorities -- it indicates the basic direction the "top-down" POV will entail -- but the overall bill will be tempered by the aggregate congressional "wish list", particularly now that earmarks have been reinstated.  Still, it'll probably be a few years down the line until the I-87 corridor gets much in the way of focus; the administration's submissions will almost assuredly follow this INFRA pattern or even veer more toward urban projects over time, and the various congressional delegations will be competing for whatever funds are available, so it's more of the same process of standing in line unless NC folks can get earmarks through the process, which requires both motivation and follow-through.


tolbs17

I was thinking I-87 would still be important cause it's to draw traffic from US-58, NC-11, and I-95, onto US-17 and US-64. Which can definitely stop the need to widen I-95 north of US-64.

froggie

^ It's not going to pull that much traffic off 95.  Even the ardent I-87 supporters are admitting that I-87 is primarily to create economic development in northeastern NC, not to pull traffic from elsewhere.

sprjus4

^ Even if the majority of the Hampton Roads bound traffic was diverted away from I-95 onto I-87, assuming VDOT leaves US-58 unimproved, that's still not a significant volume diverted away from I-95. The vast majority of traffic on I-95 in North Carolina is continuing beyond US-58 in Virginia.

tolbs17

Quote from: froggie on July 27, 2021, 11:15:54 PM
^ It's not going to pull that much traffic off 95.  Even the ardent I-87 supporters are admitting that I-87 is primarily to create economic development in northeastern NC, not to pull traffic from elsewhere.
Will Elizabeth City's population go to 100,000?

sprjus4

^ Who knows. Maybe not that far, but as development moves south into Southern Chesapeake, it could eventually move further. Having US-17 as an interstate highway in the long term, combined with those factors, Elizabeth City and that part of Northeastern North Carolina could have a decent amount of population growth over the next 20-40 years.

Moyock is growing pretty good, that northern part of Currituck County. Lots of new developments being built that way.

LM117

Quote from: LM117 on July 21, 2021, 10:41:17 PM
Quote from: LM117 on October 12, 2020, 09:24:06 AM
Quote from: sparker on October 12, 2020, 08:20:38 AM
Quote from: wdcrft63 on July 19, 2016, 06:30:45 PM
Quote from: LM117 on July 19, 2016, 05:27:10 PM
I know it's not directly road-related, but a recent announcement today involving development near the I-87 corridor could move the upgrade of US-64 up a notch or two in the future.

http://www.wral.com/csx-to-build-massive-cargo-terminal-in-edgecombe-county/15861789/

QuoteROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – After months of discussion and debate, CSX announced Tuesday that it will build its massive Carolina Connector cargo terminal in Edgecombe County.

The hub, which is expected to open in 2020, will be built between Battleboro and College roads south of U.S. Highway 301 in Rocky Mount. Officials anticipate 300 permanent jobs at the site, as well as 250 to 300 construction jobs.

Cargo transfer hubs improve efficiency in distributing goods from manufacturers to retailers and consumers, officials said, and they also reduce truck traffic on state highways. Studies by the state Department of Transportation show warehouses and other facilities usually cluster around such hubs, and officials have projected the Carolina Connector could eventually spawn up to 13,000 related jobs statewide.

DOT plans to provide $110 million in improvements to rail lines and terminal infrastructure, while CSX will invest $160 million in the project. The company also qualifies for up to $4.3 million in rebates of employee withholding taxes under a Job Development Investment Grant if it meets annual hiring and investment targets in the coming years, as well as $7.8 million in state tax credits.

Officials said the company was attracted to the Rocky Mount site because of its proximity to CSX's main north-south rail line, Interstate 95 and the future Interstate 87 corridor from the Triangle to Norfolk, Va., and the planned Interstate 42 corridor from the Triangle to Morehead City.
According to WRAL's version of this story, NC beat out VA and SC for this facility.

It's a nice reminder that highways can/should be built for tomorrow's traffic as well as today's.

This CSX terminal facility has been talked about for several years, principally in the RR industry press (including the publicly available Trains magazine).  It was apparently cancelled about 5 years ago due to a downturn in traffic and the adoption of "scheduled railroading" by CSX among others, a practice which tends to foreshadow a consolidation of origin/destination points rather than the deployment of additional ones.  But it seems the political value of building and operating the facility outweighed internal doubts, so it's finally being done.  FWIH from several quarters is that "Panamax" is indeed increasing the inbound volume from several East Coast and Gulf ports; this likely also figured into CSX's decision to resume development of the Rocky Mount yard/marshalling location.

It's not being built as large as originally planned, though. The state managed to convince CSX not to pull out altogether, so CSX finally agreed to build a scaled-down version of the terminal. This agreement happened after the then-CSX CEO Hunter Harrison died. IIRC, it was his idea to kill the project.

Here's an image of the construction taken back in July:



To give an update, the terminal is expected to open in 2 months.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-to-bring-thousands-of-jobs-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-into-nc-through-rocky-mount-area/19783199/

...aaaannnd it's open.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-terminal-comes-online-as-state-grapples-with-supply-chain-issues/19956579/
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

tolbs17

Quote from: LM117 on November 01, 2021, 09:01:39 PM
Quote from: LM117 on July 21, 2021, 10:41:17 PM
Quote from: LM117 on October 12, 2020, 09:24:06 AM
Quote from: sparker on October 12, 2020, 08:20:38 AM
Quote from: wdcrft63 on July 19, 2016, 06:30:45 PM
Quote from: LM117 on July 19, 2016, 05:27:10 PM
I know it's not directly road-related, but a recent announcement today involving development near the I-87 corridor could move the upgrade of US-64 up a notch or two in the future.

http://www.wral.com/csx-to-build-massive-cargo-terminal-in-edgecombe-county/15861789/

QuoteROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – After months of discussion and debate, CSX announced Tuesday that it will build its massive Carolina Connector cargo terminal in Edgecombe County.

The hub, which is expected to open in 2020, will be built between Battleboro and College roads south of U.S. Highway 301 in Rocky Mount. Officials anticipate 300 permanent jobs at the site, as well as 250 to 300 construction jobs.

Cargo transfer hubs improve efficiency in distributing goods from manufacturers to retailers and consumers, officials said, and they also reduce truck traffic on state highways. Studies by the state Department of Transportation show warehouses and other facilities usually cluster around such hubs, and officials have projected the Carolina Connector could eventually spawn up to 13,000 related jobs statewide.

DOT plans to provide $110 million in improvements to rail lines and terminal infrastructure, while CSX will invest $160 million in the project. The company also qualifies for up to $4.3 million in rebates of employee withholding taxes under a Job Development Investment Grant if it meets annual hiring and investment targets in the coming years, as well as $7.8 million in state tax credits.

Officials said the company was attracted to the Rocky Mount site because of its proximity to CSX's main north-south rail line, Interstate 95 and the future Interstate 87 corridor from the Triangle to Norfolk, Va., and the planned Interstate 42 corridor from the Triangle to Morehead City.
According to WRAL's version of this story, NC beat out VA and SC for this facility.

It's a nice reminder that highways can/should be built for tomorrow's traffic as well as today's.

This CSX terminal facility has been talked about for several years, principally in the RR industry press (including the publicly available Trains magazine).  It was apparently cancelled about 5 years ago due to a downturn in traffic and the adoption of "scheduled railroading" by CSX among others, a practice which tends to foreshadow a consolidation of origin/destination points rather than the deployment of additional ones.  But it seems the political value of building and operating the facility outweighed internal doubts, so it's finally being done.  FWIH from several quarters is that "Panamax" is indeed increasing the inbound volume from several East Coast and Gulf ports; this likely also figured into CSX's decision to resume development of the Rocky Mount yard/marshalling location.

It's not being built as large as originally planned, though. The state managed to convince CSX not to pull out altogether, so CSX finally agreed to build a scaled-down version of the terminal. This agreement happened after the then-CSX CEO Hunter Harrison died. IIRC, it was his idea to kill the project.

Here's an image of the construction taken back in July:



To give an update, the terminal is expected to open in 5 months.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-to-bring-thousands-of-jobs-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-into-nc-through-rocky-mount-area/19783199/

...aaaannnd it's open.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-terminal-comes-online-as-state-grapples-with-supply-chain-issues/19956579/
FTFY

kernals12

Virginia could really seize on the woes at the Ports of LA/LB if it got started on this.

froggie

Not really, given that the ships in LA/LB would have several thousand miles to travel to get to Hampton Roads, even if they headed to the East Coast directly from Asia.

kernals12

Quote from: froggie on November 12, 2021, 10:56:32 AM
Not really, given that the ships in LA/LB would have several thousand miles to travel to get to Hampton Roads, even if they headed to the East Coast directly from Asia.

But the ports at Hampton Roads are automated and everything's running smoothly

https://www.wtkr.com/news/some-hampton-roads-stores-feeling-the-pinch-of-supply-chain-issues

This is isn't the first time LA/LB has had labor issues and it won't be the last.

Bobby5280

There is a growing boom of activity along arctic shipping routes. Less and less polar ice year 'round opens the door for ships traveling from Asia to use the Arctic Ocean as an alternative to crossing the Pacific. They can travel near the East Asian coastline up to the Bering Strait and use the Northwest Passage to Newfoundland. It's almost a straight shot. Then they hang a right turn and head to the US East Coast.

froggie

^ I crunched the numbers for that.  Even going around Alaska and through the Northwest Passage, from Hong Kong it's 1700 miles farther just to get the Gulf of St Lawrence than it is to LA, let alone beyond to one of the East Coast ports.  And that's assuming Baffin Bay is ice free (it usually isn't, and is iceberg-prone from the floes coming off the west coast of Greenland).

Furthermore, you're only going to have a 2-3 month window during the Northern Hemisphere summer to use such a route.  It'll still completely ice up over the winter, and it takes time for that ice to melt.

LM117

Quote from: LM117 on November 01, 2021, 09:01:39 PM
Quote from: LM117 on July 21, 2021, 10:41:17 PM
Quote from: LM117 on October 12, 2020, 09:24:06 AM
Quote from: sparker on October 12, 2020, 08:20:38 AM
Quote from: wdcrft63 on July 19, 2016, 06:30:45 PM
Quote from: LM117 on July 19, 2016, 05:27:10 PM
I know it's not directly road-related, but a recent announcement today involving development near the I-87 corridor could move the upgrade of US-64 up a notch or two in the future.

http://www.wral.com/csx-to-build-massive-cargo-terminal-in-edgecombe-county/15861789/

QuoteROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – After months of discussion and debate, CSX announced Tuesday that it will build its massive Carolina Connector cargo terminal in Edgecombe County.

The hub, which is expected to open in 2020, will be built between Battleboro and College roads south of U.S. Highway 301 in Rocky Mount. Officials anticipate 300 permanent jobs at the site, as well as 250 to 300 construction jobs.

Cargo transfer hubs improve efficiency in distributing goods from manufacturers to retailers and consumers, officials said, and they also reduce truck traffic on state highways. Studies by the state Department of Transportation show warehouses and other facilities usually cluster around such hubs, and officials have projected the Carolina Connector could eventually spawn up to 13,000 related jobs statewide.

DOT plans to provide $110 million in improvements to rail lines and terminal infrastructure, while CSX will invest $160 million in the project. The company also qualifies for up to $4.3 million in rebates of employee withholding taxes under a Job Development Investment Grant if it meets annual hiring and investment targets in the coming years, as well as $7.8 million in state tax credits.

Officials said the company was attracted to the Rocky Mount site because of its proximity to CSX's main north-south rail line, Interstate 95 and the future Interstate 87 corridor from the Triangle to Norfolk, Va., and the planned Interstate 42 corridor from the Triangle to Morehead City.
According to WRAL's version of this story, NC beat out VA and SC for this facility.

It's a nice reminder that highways can/should be built for tomorrow's traffic as well as today's.

This CSX terminal facility has been talked about for several years, principally in the RR industry press (including the publicly available Trains magazine).  It was apparently cancelled about 5 years ago due to a downturn in traffic and the adoption of "scheduled railroading" by CSX among others, a practice which tends to foreshadow a consolidation of origin/destination points rather than the deployment of additional ones.  But it seems the political value of building and operating the facility outweighed internal doubts, so it's finally being done.  FWIH from several quarters is that "Panamax" is indeed increasing the inbound volume from several East Coast and Gulf ports; this likely also figured into CSX's decision to resume development of the Rocky Mount yard/marshalling location.

It's not being built as large as originally planned, though. The state managed to convince CSX not to pull out altogether, so CSX finally agreed to build a scaled-down version of the terminal. This agreement happened after the then-CSX CEO Hunter Harrison died. IIRC, it was his idea to kill the project.

Here's an image of the construction taken back in July:



To give an update, the terminal is expected to open in 2 months.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-to-bring-thousands-of-jobs-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-into-nc-through-rocky-mount-area/19783199/

...aaaannnd it's open.

https://www.wral.com/carolina-connector-terminal-comes-online-as-state-grapples-with-supply-chain-issues/19956579/

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held today.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2021/2021-11-18-cooper-lauds-new-csx-carolina-connector-intermodal-facility.aspx
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

tolbs17

I see reduced conflict intersections coming up on US-17 in South Mills, but they are not part of the corridor. These are definitely temporary.

https://goo.gl/maps/saUmWzgjycY5jEiS8

sprjus4

Quote from: tolbs17 on January 23, 2022, 07:22:43 AM
I see reduced conflict intersections coming up on US-17 in South Mills, but they are not part of the corridor. These are definitely temporary.

https://goo.gl/maps/saUmWzgjycY5jEiS8
I saw these months ago, and truly have no clue what they are.

If you notice, there's a new road that is built off there, with a "speed limit 45"  sign that indicates there's plan to extend it a decent length.

The RCUT would serve this new road, nothing existing.

Not sure why the county would permit a new access point to be constructed given there's a desire to upgrade that stretch to interstate standards by the end of the decade.

tolbs17

Quote from: sprjus4 on January 23, 2022, 07:27:55 AM
Quote from: tolbs17 on January 23, 2022, 07:22:43 AM
I see reduced conflict intersections coming up on US-17 in South Mills, but they are not part of the corridor. These are definitely temporary.

https://goo.gl/maps/saUmWzgjycY5jEiS8
I saw these months ago, and truly have no clue what they are.

If you notice, there's a new road that is built off there, with a "speed limit 45"  sign that indicates there's plan to extend it a decent length.

The RCUT would serve this new road, nothing existing.

Not sure why the county would permit a new access point to be constructed given there's a desire to upgrade that stretch to interstate standards by the end of the decade.
With those being done, I wonder what the hell are they doing?! The same goes to Eastfield Crossing when looking at they put a huge development in the way of the I-95 relocation. Frontage roads would have to be constructed for access of whatever development they are building.

sprjus4

NCDOT has installed a new traffic signal along US-17 (northbound only) at the intersection of US-17 Business outside South Mills.

Not sure why, but it adds a second signal along an otherwise free-flowing 60 mph limited-access highway between Elizabeth City and Chesapeake.

I've never seen enough vehicles here to warrant a signal, and the intersection redesign done a few years ago only requires turning traffic to cross one set of lanes. Through traffic on US-17 is light enough to the point there are many opportunities for gaps in traffic as well, allowing vehicles to safely cross. At most, there should have been flashing beacons added to the intersection. The full traffic signal simply adds another interruption to through traffic on US-17 northbound.

plain

Must have been enough crashes there to warrant it.
Newark born, Richmond bred

bob7374

NCDOT has awarded a pavement rehabilitation contract for 14 miles of US 64 (Future I-87) in Nash and Edgecombe Counties. Work is to be completed in the fall of 2023. While some shoulder work is mentioned, there is nothing about bringing the road up to interstate standards:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2022/2022-07-08-us-64-repaved.aspx

nerdom

64E east of Tarboro has the worst road surface in the state. Stay in the left lane or else... I travel weekly between DC and New Bern.

wdcrft63

On the I-587 thread we've been learning about how 587 is being signed between I-95 and Greenville and how the section of US 264/Future I-587 between US 64/Future I-87 and I-95 will be getting I-587-appropriate mileage signs and exit numbers. Also, there are plans to begin upgrading this latter section to interstate status in 3-4 years thus completing I-587.

Great. Now, can someone give us a corresponding report on planned upgrades to US 64/Future I-87 between I-440 and I-95?

The Ghostbuster

Try bob7374's extensive webpage about North Carolina Highways and New England Highways: https://malmeroads.net/. It has all the up-to-date information one could want.

bob7374

Google Maps has updated its Street View images to October or September along I-40 east in the widening project construction zone, at least between Raleigh and Garner. New overhead signs for the Beltline exit on I-40 West have been updated to include I-87. Here's one of the images from September:


Unlike the signs on I-40 East, there is no reference to Rocky Mount, just route shields.

sprjus4

Quote
And the city (Chesapeake) is planning a mega site development near the North Carolina border, with the prospect of the interstate running alongside it in mind, but is planning to construct an at-grade signalized intersection on rural US-17 using one of the authorized breaks in limited access right of way currently used for farm access.
City Council approved this development last month and according to the latest report, the plan now calls for a grade-separated interchange to be constructed along US-17 for this "megasite" development. This would be located within the first mile or so of US-17 in Virginia just north of the North Carolina state line.

QuoteThe following improvements will be provided as part of this development:

I. Primary Site Access- A grade-separated interchange will be constructed for the primary development access off Route 17. The final location will be approved by the City and VDOT to insure spacing of roadways consistent with access management plans and principles. These improvements will be constructed and operational prior to the first certificate of occupancy within the development unless approved otherwise by the Director of Development and Permits as a result of an approved TIA. The interchange will include the following:
             i. Sufficient number of lanes on the overpass (grade separation) to provide a LOS D or better.
             ii. Ramp lane quantities, Route 17 mainline diverge and merge lane lengths, and geometry in accordance with a City approved TIA and VDOT criteria. 
             iii. Signalization at the intersection of the access road overpass and the southbound on and off ramps as warranted.
             iv. Accommodations for pedestrian access and connectivity to the greatest extent possible.



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