North Carolina

[Roadsguy]

A video was uploaded on YouTube of driving the entire length of the new bypass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz_nG-zcDlU

Thanks for this, I didn't find that video while searching. The signage is basically what I was expecting. I presume southbound is signed for Kinston and that the existing exit numbers on the northwest bypass section were left as-is?

I like that they direct Greenville-bound traffic onto the bypass to get around Winterville and enter on Stantonsburg Road. This makes perfect sense despite being rather unusual, just because of the geography of the area and existing roads.

[sprjus4]

I presume southbound is signed for Kinston and that the existing exit numbers on the northwest bypass section were left as-is?

I'd assume so, but I cannot confirm. There's a poster on here who lives in the area that may be able to confirm sooner than I would. I plan on heading down there eventually to clinch both the Greenville SW Bypass and the US-17 Pollocksville / Maysville bypasses, but that's not for at least a few weeks when I get the time.

I like that they direct Greenville-bound traffic onto the bypass to get around Winterville and enter on Stantonsburg Road. This makes perfect sense despite being rather unusual, just because of the geography of the area and existing roads.

It makes sense IMO, there's about 12 miles of 70 mph freeway, and 2 miles of arterial Stantonsburg Rd between south of Ayden and Downtown, as opposed to 11 miles of NC-11 arterial. It's only 3 miles added, and at 70 mph as opposed to 45 mph and a dozen or more traffic lights, it's easily faster.

Contrary to the Monroe Expressway, where the bypass / old road split on the northern end signs the old road control city as "Monroe" when in reality it's quicker to take the bypass to US-601, then US-601 into town.

[tolbs17]

Drove on the new Southwest Bypass, it's really nice! It's pretty dark, but it's nice. The reason why I'm saying it's dark because i drove on it around 6:30. Now it just needs development around the bypass itself. It's a lot faster to get to the hospital and ECU!

I'm sure to the people that live on the east side of Greenville would have to use the original NC 11 or loop around NC 11 and US 264 until the Southeast Bypass gets built.

[sprjus4]

Drove on the new Southwest Bypass, it's really nice! It's pretty dark, but it's nice. The reason why I'm saying it's dark because i drove on it around 6:30. Now it just needs development around the bypass itself. It's a lot faster to get to the hospital and ECU!

I'm sure to the people that live on the east side of Greenville would have to use the original NC 11 or loop around NC 11 and US 264 until the Southeast Bypass gets built.

Since it still remains unanswered on here, do you happen to know these two things?

- What is the southbound control city
- Have they changed the exit numbers to NC-11's mileage on the US-264 portion?

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-27-lenoir-county-construction-road-closure.aspx

KINSTON — A section of a Lenoir County road will be closed for a few days in early December while N.C. Department of Transportation contract crews continue construction on the C.F. Harvey Parkway Extension project.

Between 7 a.m. Dec. 2 and 5 p.m. Dec. 6, Hugo Road is set to close between Elmore Farm and Humphrey roads. During the closure, contractors will install steel bridge girders over the road north of Kinston.

Traffic will be detoured onto Elmore Farms Road, Wallace Family Road, Tilghman Mill Road and N.C. 58.

Drivers should anticipate needing extra time for their commute and are urged to use caution when traveling around the construction.

By extending C.F Harvey Parkway by 5.8 miles, connectivity will improve in northern Kinston between U.S. 70, N.C. 58 and N.C. 11. The $73.5 million project is expected to be substantially complete in 2021, with vegetation work finishing in 2022.

[LM117]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to widen NC-69 in Clay County.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-26-nc-69-widening-clay-county.aspx

[tolbs17]

Drove on the new Southwest Bypass, it's really nice! It's pretty dark, but it's nice. The reason why I'm saying it's dark because i drove on it around 6:30. Now it just needs development around the bypass itself. It's a lot faster to get to the hospital and ECU!

I'm sure to the people that live on the east side of Greenville would have to use the original NC 11 or loop around NC 11 and US 264 until the Southeast Bypass gets built.

Since it still remains unanswered on here, do you happen to know these two things?

- What is the southbound control city
- Have they changed the exit numbers to NC-11's mileage on the US-264 portion?

1. Ayden / Kinston

2. No?

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to widen NC-69 in Clay County.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-26-nc-69-widening-clay-county.aspx

NC 69 will be 4-lane divided straight into Hayesville. Great. But what about the connecting road(s) in Georgia?

[sprjus4]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to widen NC-69 in Clay County.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-26-nc-69-widening-clay-county.aspx

NC 69 will be 4-lane divided straight into Hayesville. Great. But what about the connecting road(s) in Georgia?

Reminds me of US-501 at the Virginia / North Carolina border.

Virginia's 4-lane section just suddenly ends and transitions to two-lanes with a stub for a future extension

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5429776,-78.9001039,476m/data=!3m1!1e3

NCDOT is finally catching up and has been building some 4-lane sections south of there, but not to the border yet.



US-17 between Virginia / North Carolina was similar for a while too. North Carolina's 4-lane divided highway transitioned into the narrow 2-lane roadway in Virginia at the border between the 80s and 2005 when VDOT finally relocated US-17 onto a new alignment limited-access 4-lane divided highway.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5492451,-76.3784613,3592m/data=!3m1!1e3

[X99]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to widen NC-69 in Clay County.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-26-nc-69-widening-clay-county.aspx

NC 69 will be 4-lane divided straight into Hayesville. Great. But what about the connecting road(s) in Georgia?

Reminds me of US-501 at the Virginia / North Carolina border.

Virginia's 4-lane section just suddenly ends and transitions to two-lanes with a stub for a future extension

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5429776,-78.9001039,476m/data=!3m1!1e3

NCDOT is finally catching up and has been building some 4-lane sections south of there, but not to the border yet.



US-17 between Virginia / North Carolina was similar for a while too. North Carolina's 4-lane divided highway transitioned into the narrow 2-lane roadway in Virginia at the border between the 80s and 2005 when VDOT finally relocated US-17 onto a new alignment limited-access 4-lane divided highway.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5492451,-76.3784613,3592m/data=!3m1!1e3

US 385 at the South Dakota / Nebraska border is the same way: four lanes in SD, two lanes in NE. However, I don't think Nebraska has started upgrading their side yet.

[X99]

I think I caught Google Maps mid-update on the NC 11 bypass. The lines further south are white, only show up at full zoom, and sit on top of each other in a few places. They also end a few feet short of the NC 11 interchange.

EDIT: Interesting. The white lines are directionally marked, but the yellow ones aren't.

[sprjus4]

I think I caught Google Maps mid-update on the NC 11 bypass. The lines further south are white, only show up at full zoom, and sit on top of each other in a few places. They also end a few feet short of the NC 11 interchange.

EDIT: Interesting. The white lines are directionally marked, but the yellow ones aren't.

I'd give it a week, the system takes a while. I'm beyond surprised they actually marked it appropriately as a "freeway facility" as opposed to arterial as they like to do with newer freeway bypasses.

[tolbs17]

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0400664,-77.2195808,14.66z

Also, when looking at this, google maps shows that this is an unknown freeway. There's nothing marked on it and if you zoom out all the way to US 70, it shows that it's an expressway design and not freeway.

[X99]

I'd say it's fixed now, since the whole mainline is yellow and all the exits are marked, but now there's a new problem.

They put I-587 shields on the southbound mainline through the US-264 interchange.

[Finrod]

I'm wondering how long it'll take NCDOT to move US 13 onto the bypass, and will they retain existing US 13 as Business 13 when they do.

[LM117]

For those interested, NCDOT will be posting a weekly "Cash Watch" report every Friday due to a new law the General Assembly recently passed.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-27-weekly-cash-watch-report.aspx

[tolbs17]

I'm wondering how long it'll take NCDOT to move US 13 onto the bypass, and will they retain existing US 13 as Business 13 when they do.

Doubtful. If they were planning on doing it they would have done it by now or left a space on the signs for US 13. It will just be called NC 11 bypass and US 264.

[tolbs17]

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6639496,-77.9555017,3a,41.9y,358.05h,98.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3c8eAn-H1KDU2BzKlh51LA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Over here they marked this sign very badly. It should say "Wilson / Greenville". Not Kenly.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Here the southwest bypass is on the maps now but I think it still needs some editing.

1. Make the western bypass say NC 11 Bypass

2. Fix the southeast ramp that goes to "Greenville DOWNTOWN"

3. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.5467304,-77.4649114,15.46z/data=!5m1!1e1

Never seen a freeway ramp like that! They are normally orange, not white.

4. https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4757218,-77.4442008,15.96z/data=!5m1!1e1

This one too.

I'm really waiting for updated imagery!

_____________________________________

Info about the new SW bypass

Downtown

you save 1 minute, but you add 3 miles but it's no biggie at all!

Airport

[LM117]

An informational meeting is being held on December 5 in Rodanthe to discuss the ongoing "jug handle" bridge project there.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-11-26-rodanthe-bridge-informational-meeting.aspx

[Roadsguy]

Just got a hold of the signing plans for the Greenville Southwest Bypass project (R-2250) from a public records request. In addition to what we already saw from the northbound drive video that was already posted, I can now confirm a few things:

• Exit 123A-B only exists northbound on the bypass. US 264's existing Exit 73A-B still exists on eastbound 264 and westbound 264/southbound bypass. The exits from westbound Stantonsburg Road are still unnumbered.
• The southbound bypass is signed for Kinston starting from the 264 cloverleaf. Though NC 11 Bypass trailblazers were posted along the northwest bypass, including some BGS replacements at the northern US 13/NC 11 junction, Kinston isn't signed there, nor is Bethel from anywhere except the northern 13/11 junction.
• The planned signs for westbound 264 leave no room for I-587 shields, but the plans explicitly mention eventually replacing the signs entirely to feature I-587. This also confirms again that I-587 will end at the cloverleaf and not go onto the bypass, which we already knew. Most notably, though, it seems I-587 will be signed north-south, with northbound pointing west toward Zebulon, shown below. This seems... questionable.

[LM117]

Latest update on Ocracoke Island, regarding the ferry system and NC-12.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-12-02-ocracoke-reopens-ferry-schedules.aspx

[X99]

Just got a hold of the signing plans for the Greenville Southwest Bypass project (R-2250) from a public records request. In addition to what we already saw from the northbound drive video that was already posted, I can now confirm a few things:

• Exit 123A-B only exists northbound on the bypass. US 264's existing Exit 73A-B still exists on eastbound 264 and westbound 264/southbound bypass. The exits from westbound Stantonsburg Road are still unnumbered.
• The southbound bypass is signed for Kinston starting from the 264 cloverleaf. Though NC 11 Bypass trailblazers were posted along the northwest bypass, including some BGS replacements at the northern US 13/NC 11 junction, Kinston isn't signed there, nor is Bethel from anywhere except the northern 13/11 junction.
• The planned signs for westbound 264 leave no room for I-587 shields, but the plans explicitly mention eventually replacing the signs entirely to feature I-587. This also confirms again that I-587 will end at the cloverleaf and not go onto the bypass, which we already knew. Most notably, though, it seems I-587 will be signed north-south, with northbound pointing west toward Zebulon, shown below. This seems... questionable.

And yet Google Maps signed I-587 through the cloverleaf on the southbound US 264 Bypass mainline. Also, the other side (still signed US 264) is mapped out as an at-grade intersection in the middle of the cloverleaf, while the I-587-marked side passes over it. Looks like they marked the whole thing as an expressway instead of a freeway.

[Roadsguy]

Another thing I found in the signing plans: they indicate the internal name of the northwest bypass section as "US 264/US 13/By-Pass NC 11," indicating that at one point, US 13 itself was planned to be rerouted onto the bypass when the southwest section opened. Obviously this didn't happen. Interesting that this seemed to indicate the creation of NC 11 Bypass but not US 13 Bypass. Wouldn't be the first time they couldn't make up their mind which method of bypassing a route to choose and just did both on the same project. (See the Sanford Bypass with US 421 proper rerouted onto it and NC 87 Bypass created for it.)

[LM117]

NC-12 on Ocracoke Island will reopen to all traffic tomorrow.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-12-04-nc12-reopens-ocracoke.aspx

[tolbs17]

Another thing I found in the signing plans: they indicate the internal name of the northwest bypass section as "US 264/US 13/By-Pass NC 11," indicating that at one point, US 13 itself was planned to be rerouted onto the bypass when the southwest section opened. Obviously this didn't happen. Interesting that this seemed to indicate the creation of NC 11 Bypass but not US 13 Bypass. Wouldn't be the first time they couldn't make up their mind which method of bypassing a route to choose and just did both on the same project. (See the Sanford Bypass with US 421 proper rerouted onto it and NC 87 Bypass created for it.)

They probably didn't put US 13 on it because they didn't want the bypass to have too many shields so it can cause confusion.

Also, they are probably trying to move many US highways off freeways.