Interstate 73/74

[LM117]

A lane on Business 40 will close for several weeks due to the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway project.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-10-24-business-40-lane-closure-kernersville.aspx

[ARMOURERERIC]

I wish google maps updated more frequently, so many nc project images that are over a year old.

[bob7374]

NCDOT awards contract for I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass. Work can start the last week of November. Completion expected in 2023:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-06-ncdot-awards-rockingham-bypass-contract.aspx

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-08-overnight-ramp-closures-us-421-peace-haven.aspx

WINSTON-SALEM — A ramp onto U.S. 421 in western Forsyth County is set to close overnight several times next week as part of ongoing work on the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway project​.

N.C. Department of Transportation contract crews plan to close the ramp from Peace Haven Road onto southbound U.S. 421 at 10 each night from Nov. 10-12 and reopen the ramp by 6 a.m. the following day. All work is weather dependent.

As a detour, drivers can take U.S. 421 North to Exit 242 (Lewisvillle-Clemmons Road), or Country Club Road to Jonestown Road to access U.S. 421 South.

Drivers are urged to use caution when near the work zone. They should also anticipate needing extra time for traveling through the area because of the detour.

[sturmde]

NCDOT awards contract for I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass. Work can start the last week of November. Completion expected in 2023:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-06-ncdot-awards-rockingham-bypass-contract.aspx

That's great news.  Getting this segment done a.s.a.p. will finally make this a viable route to I-95 from Winston-Salem/Greensboro areas, without trudging through Rockingham.  Weird though how NC is going to end I-73 temporarily at the intersection with US 74, rather than having it run to the NC 38 intersection (or even at least US 1).  I guess only it's to minimize the shifting exit numbers from Charlotte to Wilmington, where you'll see US 74's exits, then originally I-73's exits, then I-74's exits, then back to US 74's.  This way, it's only one shift.  Frankly, they should just renumber all the exits north up to the 73/74 split to use I-74 mile markers. 

[sprjus4]

Frankly, they should just renumber all the exits north up to the 73/74 split to use I-74 mile markers.

Disagree. I'd say I-73 is the dominant route, and honestly I-74's designation needs to vanish in NC. IMO, the segment between I-73 and I-77 can become an I-x73 or I-x77, the overlap will become solely I-73, and the segment between Rockingham and Bolton / Wilmington can become apart of an Asheville - Wilmington interstate, I-3x.

[Bobby5280]

Agreed on the I-74 part. There is next to no chance in the foreseeable future that I-74 in North Carolina would ever connect to the original I-74 in Cincinnati. While the Interstate highway system has several route numbers that are duplicated in separate parts of the country, the duplicate routes usually fit into the numbering grid to some degree. I-74 in North Carolina doesn't do that at all. It would make more sense numbered with a designation like I-36 or I-38.

It's good news that the segment of I-74 in Rockingham will be finished in the next couple or so years. Still, the path I-74 is taking around Rockingham seems odd. The bypass would have been considerably shorter if it had been able to run along the East sides of Hamlet, Dobbins Heights and Rockingham. Was such a path ever considered? One obvious obstacle for an East loop: the huge CSX rail yard outside Dobbins Heights.

[The Ghostbuster]

Since its very unlikely they will change either the 73 or 74 designations, I would say, at the very least, get rid of the US 220 designation. Retract it to the present northern terminus of Interstate 73. Keeping the 220 co-designation with 73 and 74 is overkill.

[sprjus4]

Still, the path I-74 is taking around Rockingham seems odd. The bypass would have been considerably shorter if it had been able to run along the East sides of Hamlet, Dobbins Heights and Rockingham. Was such a path ever considered? One obvious obstacle for an East loop: the huge CSX rail yard outside Dobbins Heights.

Two things that make the current alignment more attractive -
1) It accommodates I-73 eventually going southwards around the NC-38 area.
2) The current project is about 5 miles of 4-lane freeway construction to tie I-73 / I-74 with the existing interstate-standard Rockingham Bypass built 20 years ago.
3) Minimal right of way impacts

An eastern alignment would -
1) Not accommodate I-73's future southern connection once / if SCDOT ever starts.
2) Require at least 13 miles of 4-lane freeway construction, adding more construction costs.
3) Have significantly more right of way impacts, especially if staying closer in. You could also go further out, but then you add more mileage.

[bob7374]

In a busy NC Roads news day, more good news. According to timmer63, a frequent visitor to my I-73/I-74 site, the Broadridge Road exit (Exit 219) on US 74 (Future I-74) in Robeson County is now open. This adds about 2 miles more to the 70 MPH future interstate freeway south/east of NC 41 in Lumberton leaving now about a 5 mile gap in the freeway between Lumberton and US 76 near Whiteville. The next upgrade project to create an interchange for Old Boardman Road is due to start in 2021. 

[LM117]

Two things to note regarding the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway:

The US-52/NC-66 connector near Rural Hall will close permanently on December 9.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-12-02-us-52-nc-66-forsyth-connector-closing.aspx

And there are upcoming overnight closures on US-52.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-12-02-overnight-us-52-forsyth-closures.aspx

[Roadsguy]

The US-52/NC-66 connector near Rural Hall will close permanently on December 9.

I suppose this raises the philosophical question of whether the new beltway section is truly a new road or just an upgrade of the connector with its original designation deleted.

[sprjus4]

The US-52/NC-66 connector near Rural Hall will close permanently on December 9.

I suppose this raises the philosophical question of whether the new beltway section is truly a new road or just an upgrade of the connector with its original designation deleted.

Similar situation in Greensboro where about a mile of 2-lane Cotswold Ave was permanently closed between Old Battleground Rd and Lawndale Dr and converted into the mainline of Greensboro Urban Loop, opening next month.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1382847,-79.8369681,3732m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

[Roadsguy]

The US-52/NC-66 connector near Rural Hall will close permanently on December 9.

I suppose this raises the philosophical question of whether the new beltway section is truly a new road or just an upgrade of the connector with its original designation deleted.

Similar situation in Greensboro where about a mile of 2-lane Cotswold Ave was permanently closed between Old Battleground Rd and Lawndale Dr and converted into the mainline of Greensboro Urban Loop, opening next month.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1382847,-79.8369681,3732m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

Did Cotswold Avenue actually follow exactly the median line of the planned expressway? The 52/66 connector is, I believe, being directly widened and reconstructed to become one of the carriageways of the Northern Beltway (I forget which).

[sprjus4]

The US-52/NC-66 connector near Rural Hall will close permanently on December 9.

I suppose this raises the philosophical question of whether the new beltway section is truly a new road or just an upgrade of the connector with its original designation deleted.

Similar situation in Greensboro where about a mile of 2-lane Cotswold Ave was permanently closed between Old Battleground Rd and Lawndale Dr and converted into the mainline of Greensboro Urban Loop, opening next month.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1382847,-79.8369681,3732m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

Did Cotswold Avenue actually follow exactly the median line of the planned expressway? The 52/66 connector is, I believe, being directly widened and reconstructed to become one of the carriageways of the Northern Beltway (I forget which).

The eastbound carriageway will follow roughly half of the old road, and the westbound carriageway will roughly follow the other half.

The old road had a weird twist in the middle, whereas the beltway is straight.

Overall in this case, they completely demolished Cotswold Ave, and simply utilized its right of way, plus acquiring homes directly backing it to fit the entire 250-300 ft corridor.

Right now, with the main connection gone, traffic is largely having to divert to local streets, but once the beltway opens at the end of the year to Lawndale Ave, the connection will be re-opened, and improved from a 2-lane 45 mph arterial to a 6-lane 65 mph freeway, but only accessible from Battleground Ave main at the interchange, not Old Battleground Ave.

[LM117]

Upcoming lane closures on Business 40 related to the W-S Northern Beltway.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-12-05-business-40-beltway-lane-closures-forsyth-county.aspx

[Roadsguy]

Interestingly, I just noticed by chance in Street View that I-74's mile markers (no shields, just plain numbers) continue on US 74/76 past Bolton to the Columbus/Brunswick county line, well past where the "swamp thing" alignment diverges just west of the NC 211 interchange, numbered Exit 258 despite being east of where all the study concepts left the existing road. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this yet, but it definitely doesn't seem to indicate that NCDOT is too keen on actually building I-74 through the swamp.

[bob7374]

Interestingly, I just noticed by chance in Street View that I-74's mile markers (no shields, just plain numbers) continue on US 74/76 past Bolton to the Columbus/Brunswick county line, well past where the "swamp thing" alignment diverges just west of the NC 211 interchange, numbered Exit 258 despite being east of where all the study concepts left the existing road. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this yet, but it definitely doesn't seem to indicate that NCDOT is too keen on actually building I-74 through the swamp.

Yes, I found it interesting that when the mile markers were put up in 2012 they went as far east as mile 270 in Delco, far beyond NC 211. They actually put up a gore sign with the number 270 for the NC 87 North 'exit' on US 74/76 West around that time. This is to be (or has been) taken down as part of a reconstruction project for the US 74/76 and NC 87 North intersection. Whether this is a sign that I-74 will eventually go to Wilmington, or just the result of an overeager contractor is a good question.

[tolbs17]

Interestingly, I just noticed by chance in Street View that I-74's mile markers (no shields, just plain numbers) continue on US 74/76 past Bolton to the Columbus/Brunswick county line, well past where the "swamp thing" alignment diverges just west of the NC 211 interchange, numbered Exit 258 despite being east of where all the study concepts left the existing road. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this yet, but it definitely doesn't seem to indicate that NCDOT is too keen on actually building I-74 through the swamp.

Whether this is a sign that I-74 will eventually go to Wilmington, or just the result of an overeager contractor is a good question.

I don't think so because there is not a free-flowing interchange unless they want to relocate the freeway south.

http://prntscr.com/q7lmm2

If I-74 wants to come to Wilmington, I think there needs to be a new freeway like this.

[Roadsguy]

Also, a question on the future US 52/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway interchange north of the city. I saw two preliminary designs for it: one dated 2015 featuring six-lane continuity for I-74, with US 52 into the city being a two-lane exit, and another one with no date on it (but the PDFs uploaded to the project site in 2016) with six-lane continuity for US 52 and having I-74 exit onto two-lane flyovers which merge into the center of the beltway, only giving I-74 continuity leaving the beltway.

Is it known which of these is the later design and actually being constructed? Someone mapped the interchange on OSM as under construction with the 2015 design, though this article includes a map of the undated design featuring US 52 continuity.

[sprjus4]

Also, a question on the future US 52/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway interchange north of the city. I saw two preliminary designs for it: one dated 2015 featuring six-lane continuity for I-74, with US 52 into the city being a two-lane exit, and another one with no date on it (but the PDFs uploaded to the project site in 2016) with six-lane continuity for US 52 and having I-74 exit onto two-lane flyovers which merge into the center of the beltway, only giving I-74 continuity leaving the beltway.

Is it known which of these is the later design and actually being constructed? Someone mapped the interchange on OSM as under construction with the 2015 design, though this article includes a map of the undated design featuring US 52 continuity.

I had wondered the same thing... I guess time will tell. I'm hoping it was ultimately designed for I-74 continuity as that would make the most sense. Or maybe it'll just become another Greensboro.

[Roadsguy]

Or maybe it'll just become another Greensboro.

They build the whole beltway with continuity for I-74 and then decide two weeks later to reroute I-74 through the city, leaving a three-lane eastbound left exit onto the beltway?

[mvak36]

Also, a question on the future US 52/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway interchange north of the city. I saw two preliminary designs for it: one dated 2015 featuring six-lane continuity for I-74, with US 52 into the city being a two-lane exit, and another one with no date on it (but the PDFs uploaded to the project site in 2016) with six-lane continuity for US 52 and having I-74 exit onto two-lane flyovers which merge into the center of the beltway, only giving I-74 continuity leaving the beltway.

Is it known which of these is the later design and actually being constructed? Someone mapped the interchange on OSM as under construction with the 2015 design, though this article includes a map of the undated design featuring US 52 continuity.

I had wondered the same thing... I guess time will tell. I'm hoping it was ultimately designed for I-74 continuity as that would make the most sense. Or maybe it'll just become another Greensboro.

I found the Letting page for that project.

Under Supporting Documents, I found this pdf. It looks like 74 will be the through route.

[sprjus4]

Also, a question on the future US 52/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway interchange north of the city. I saw two preliminary designs for it: one dated 2015 featuring six-lane continuity for I-74, with US 52 into the city being a two-lane exit, and another one with no date on it (but the PDFs uploaded to the project site in 2016) with six-lane continuity for US 52 and having I-74 exit onto two-lane flyovers which merge into the center of the beltway, only giving I-74 continuity leaving the beltway.

Is it known which of these is the later design and actually being constructed? Someone mapped the interchange on OSM as under construction with the 2015 design, though this article includes a map of the undated design featuring US 52 continuity.

I had wondered the same thing... I guess time will tell. I'm hoping it was ultimately designed for I-74 continuity as that would make the most sense. Or maybe it'll just become another Greensboro.

I found the Letting page for that project.

Under Supporting Documents, I found this pdf. It looks like 74 will be the through route.

Apparently NCDOT thinks I-73 is coming up this way.

Under the typical section, it says "WINSTON-SALEM - NORTHERN BELTWAY AND I-73/74"

Interesting also how that is a public meeting map from 2015, when in 2016 they showed a new design with continuity for US-52. Maybe someone with sanity say hey, let's not do that.

[mvak36]

Also, a question on the future US 52/Winston-Salem Northern Beltway interchange north of the city. I saw two preliminary designs for it: one dated 2015 featuring six-lane continuity for I-74, with US 52 into the city being a two-lane exit, and another one with no date on it (but the PDFs uploaded to the project site in 2016) with six-lane continuity for US 52 and having I-74 exit onto two-lane flyovers which merge into the center of the beltway, only giving I-74 continuity leaving the beltway.

Is it known which of these is the later design and actually being constructed? Someone mapped the interchange on OSM as under construction with the 2015 design, though this article includes a map of the undated design featuring US 52 continuity.

I had wondered the same thing... I guess time will tell. I'm hoping it was ultimately designed for I-74 continuity as that would make the most sense. Or maybe it'll just become another Greensboro.

I found the Letting page for that project.

Under Supporting Documents, I found this pdf. It looks like 74 will be the through route.

Apparently NCDOT thinks I-73 is coming up this way.

Under the typical section, it says "WINSTON-SALEM - NORTHERN BELTWAY AND I-73/74"

Interesting also how that is a public meeting map from 2015, when in 2016 they showed a new design with continuity for US-52. Maybe someone with sanity say hey, let's not do that.

Now that you mention it, I'm not sure if that's the final design or not. I didn't realize that the plan was from 2015. I was just posting the link to what they had under Supporting Documents.