US 311 extension to US 58

[Mapmikey]

North Carolina wants to extend US 311 to US 58

http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/traffic/safety/Programs/data/route_change/proposed/US_311_Extension_Virginia_111110.pdf

They want to use NC 770 and Virginia SR 863 where US 311 would end just inside the Danville Bypass.

I always thought US 360 should've been extended west like this to replace upper US 311 but this is an interesting development.

Mapmikey

[NE2]

Huh.

Won't be the first case of a U.S. Highway replacing a secondary route (the 1979 extension of US 190 replaced several Farm-to-Market Roads).

Perhaps Virginia will counter-propose extending US 360.

[froggie]

Here's a map of the proposal.

Technically, this would end at BUSINESS US 58.

[agentsteel53]

we would have a Virginia US 311 for the first time since 1934.

good luck getting VA to put up some cutouts.

[NE2]

Here's a map of the proposal.

Don't NCDOT have their own maps they can use? :bonk:

[usends]

Now NC's extension of US 311 to Eden makes a little more sense.

US 311 makes a 90-degree change-of-direction in Winston-Salem.  And the highway has a completely different character on opposite sides of the city: freeway to the southeast, surface highway to the northeast.

So I echo the thought below: I think it would make more sense for VA to counter-propose extending US 360 further southwest from Danville, entering NC and ending in Winston-Salem (at US 52's exit 110B).

US 311 could then be truncated, such that it begins at I-40's exit 196 in Winston-Salem, running southeastward to its current terminus.  And isn't that entire segment part of future I-74?  So US 311 could be completely decommissioned once that's completed.

[agentsteel53]

Here's a map of the proposal.

Don't NCDOT have their own maps they can use? :bonk:

worse than that... it's PDF!

[usends]

I made some interactive Google maps to illustrate the point about extending US 360, rather than extending US 311.

This one shows the current situation, as well as the proposed extension:
http://g.co/maps/4ydge

And this one shows the final result if it were US 360 that got extended, and US 311 got truncated instead:
http://g.co/maps/ggqpm

[Alps]

Better yet, extend US 311 along the remainder of US 360.

[Takumi]

Extending US 360 over 311 makes more sense. Yes, 311 is older and would fix the "2 360s" issue, but 360 is over twice as long as 311. Also, there's no NC 360 to renumber, while any US 311 extension into Virginia would probably result in a renumbering of VA/WV 311.

[hbelkins]

VA and US 13 say hi, as do the previously mentioned VA and US 360.

[Takumi]

That's why I said "probably".

[rickmastfan67]

This one shows the current situation, as well as the proposed extension:
http://g.co/maps/4ydge

One mistake with that.  US-360 goes into Downtown Danville to end @ VA-360.  It doesn't start/end @ the US-29/US-58 bypass.

[SP Cook]

Since its NC I'm surprised they don't ask to name the road "Future I-94".

Whole idea seems to serve no purpose at all.  The route as outlined would not make much sense as a through highway and would consist of nice, but unspectacular, rural country roads.  Other than allowing some NC towns to claim to be "on a US Highway" why bother?

[hbelkins]

US routes should be major through routes that interstate (as opposed to "Interstate") or significant intrastate traffic would use for long-distance travel. No one in Pikeville, Ky. would use US 460 to get from there to Frankfort or Louisville (where 460 used to run). However, they would use US 23 to get to Ashland or Columbus, US 119 to get to Charleston or Knoxville, or 460 to get to Bluefield or Roanoke.

How much through traffic is there from Winston-Salem to Danville or South Boston?

[froggie]

Not much.  Plus US 158/US 29 is a more direct route (by about 8 miles) and has more 4-lane than US 311.

[usends]

This one shows the current situation, as well as the proposed extension:
http://g.co/maps/4ydge

One mistake with that.  US-360 goes into Downtown Danville to end @ VA-360.  It doesn't start/end @ the US-29/US-58 bypass.

True, but all of that last mile-long segment is duplexed with Business 58, so I don't think there would be a need to come up with a new designation for it.

[Henry]

And it still won't connect to US 11 as proposed! I, for one, wouldn't mind having US 360 extended instead and US 311 decommissioned completely, seeing that the southern half is now routed onto I-74.

[jcarte29]

This is how twisted NCDOT is, honestly, US 311 should be decommissioned completely, especially since eventually I-74 will swallow most of it...

One alternative would be to make it NC 311 and put it on its old route through W-S before it followed I-40 to US 52...

[bugo]

This is how twisted NCDOT is, honestly, US 311 should be decommissioned completely, especially since eventually I-74 will swallow most of it...

One alternative would be to make it NC 311 and put it on its old route through W-S before it followed I-40 to US 52...

NO US routes should be decommissioned!

[Alps]

This is how twisted NCDOT is, honestly, US 311 should be decommissioned completely, especially since eventually I-74 will swallow most of it...

One alternative would be to make it NC 311 and put it on its old route through W-S before it followed I-40 to US 52...

NO US routes should be decommissioned!

I'll trade you US 311 for US 666.

[usends]

In the pdf which is linked in mapmikey's original post in this thread, there are a few specific DOT engineers mentioned.  A couple weeks ago I sent a letter to each of them.  Yesterday I received a reply from one of the NCDOT employees.  If you wish to view the correspondence, here is a link to the pdf:
http://tinyurl.com/7gsxo3k
It's a 2-page document.  The first page is the letter I sent, and the last page is the response from NCDOT.

[CanesFan27]

Well it wasn't NC that initiated the hope for extending the route it came from Virginia and specifically boosters of a new development called MegaPark.

For more:
http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-nc-future-interstate-and-us-route.html

[jcarte29]

Thanks for the updates about I-73/74 in Randolph County CanesFan27!! Great blog...

[Mapmikey]

One small hitch is that Virginia cannot put SR 863 into its primary system in 2012 unless the state legislature actually does it.  The CTB used up nearly all of the 50 miles per year it can legally add to the primary system when it created VA 286, VA 289 and VA 294.


Mapmikey