Interstate 42 (E)

[jcil4ever]

NCDOT did an aerial drive over the future Havelock Bypass...

Thanks! Great to see from this perspective! Now they just need to post the grand finale 😂

[jcil4ever]

This should not be a red flag.

There was an article a while back that Phase One was to be completed this summer.  Now sounding like August 2025 per above, which is good as I was worried they were going to change the traffic pattern before the heavy July 4th Vacation Traffic, with all Beach Condos rented around the Holiday.

Phase One was defined as the completion of the Local Roads and the New Entrance and Exit Ramps along the new Interchanges so that Existing US 70 can be shifted onto the Entrance and Exit Ramps.

Phase Two was then allowing the Bridges to be built in the Path of Existing US 70 Roadway.

The NC Project Site has been terrible at communicating Phase 1 and Phase 2 for the James City Project.

Indeed, you were right. It looks like bridge construction is imminent, except maybe with timing. Although who knows...maybe they'll just move traffic to the temporary configuration and hold off on bridge work until later.

Grantham Road Bridge Construction to Begin on James City Project

[jcil4ever]

If you're interested, progress continues in JoCo and Southern Wake County. I added some time stamps in the video description if you want to jump around:

A few dull highlights:
The overhead sign for Exit 326B for 70 West to exit has been updated to remove the Business title


The overhead signs on I-40 West for Exit 306 have been updated, leaving an oversized sign for the new, simpler US-70:

Not quite as bad when B & A are split up


All four signs for Exit 309 from I-40 East have been updated from US-70 to I-42, however, eastbound, the Exit 306 signs still haven't been updated:

[Walnut2]

Many if not all of the guide signs at the I-40/N.C. 42 interchange have also been patched to change N.C. 42 to N.C. 36. I'm not a fan of the N.C. 36 partial renumbering, nor a fan of how the Fuquay-Varina/Clayton destinations are being dropped from the main signs in favor of "Veterans Pkwy" (except for the exit 312A overheads where the off-ramps split to go west/east). On I-42 they at least put up separate signs that have them combined with a Hospital destination, but still as if an afterthought. I'm skeptical that the concerns over potential "Highway 42" confusion in emergency calls, to whatever extent they had merit, will be all that remedied by this renumbering because the remaining N.C. 42 is still just a short distance away. Hard to not hope that someone different will come along at N.C.D.O.T. someday and clean all this up.

The resigning of the U.S. 70 junction with S. Lombard St/Veterans Pkwy also has room for improvement. Both directions have signage with those names but the westbound "exit" actually turns onto Barbour St, from which drivers have to turn onto Hamby St to get to Lombard. When the exit was signed for N.C. 42 West, there were N.C. 42 West trailblazers directing drivers to make those turns, but last I saw there were only hospital trailblazers to provide any indication of where drivers need to go. An advance-right N.C. 36 West trailblazer would also be good where it approaches I-42, because the lone 36 sign added on top of the I-42 signs is easy to miss, especially with the foliage growing in front of it.

[jcil4ever]

Looks like the final road markings have been applied, except for reflectors!

Also, I drove through US-70's new/old route through Clayton. The only signs I noticed still not updated were those on I-40 East for Exit 306.

Updated sign on US-70 West, showing the old 70 East shield covered up with a To 42 shield:


Updated sign on US-70 East with "Business" covered up:


Fun pair of junction signs for NC-42 East / NC-36 West. The actual directional signs are right behind a power pole...


Exits from 70 East onto 42 West and to stay on (fading) 70 East:

[sprjus4]

I got the opportunity to drive along US-70 / I-42 between I-40 and I-95... it looks like I-42 is fully sign-posted along the US-70 Clayton Bypass with ground-mounted shields and mile markers. Any references of NC-42 have been removed and replaced with NC-36 including the overlap on I-42.

The segment east of the bypass that is being upgraded was virtually complete... the only sign of construction were the cones on the sides. The paving looked finalized, rumble strips, cable guardrail, etc... a very nice drive. All the signs were also in place. All that is needed is to unveil the 70 mph speed limit signs and get rid of the work zone signs. See the above video ^^

[brian440i]

Has Google jumped the Gun?

The Future i-42 Havelock Bypass is showing up on the Map?

Originally was Scheduled for Spring 2025 til moved back to Summer 2026....
September 2024 was 84% Complete
May 2025 is 87% Complete

[jcil4ever]

Has Google jumped the Gun?

The Future i-42 Havelock Bypass is showing up on the Map?

Originally was Scheduled for Spring 2025 til moved back to Summer 2026....
September 2024 was 84% Complete
May 2025 is 87% Complete

Yep, it's still a ways off from opening. This was from about a month ago. If you turn on the traffic layer, you'll see it's marked closed and Google is even less optimistic about completion (probably just a placeholder date):


This article, though overly optimistic, suggests the delay may be tied to not originally designing the beginning and ending interchanges for 70mph.

[The Ghostbuster]

I'm surprised they didn't put an Interstate 42 shield on the yet-to-be-completed bypass.

[jcil4ever]

I'm surprised they didn't put an Interstate 42 shield on the yet-to-be-completed bypass.

Google or NCDOT? 😂

[sprjus4]

Here's dash cam video from my drive along both NC-885 & NC-540 and US-70 between I-40 and I-95 heading eastbound the other day. The part for US-70 begins at 10:00.

You can see that the upgrades along US-70 are virtually complete, with the exception of some cones and the 60 mph work zone limit.

https://youtu.be/q3URSvqjcGk?si=pfxuq9ibRxJa7eMJ

[LM117]

How far east will the 70mph zone be extended from the Clayton Bypass? Looks to me that it could go as far as the US-70 Business interchange near Pine Level, since that entire stretch between there and I-40 is effectively a freeway now, even with the narrow shoulders between the Neuse River & US-70 Business.

[sprjus4]

How far east will the 70mph zone be extended from the Clayton Bypass? Looks to me that it could go as far as the US-70 Business interchange near Pine Level, since that entire stretch between there and I-40 is effectively a freeway now, even with the narrow shoulders between the Neuse River & US-70 Business.

The issue is the remaining Oak St intersection (right in right out) for US-70 West traffic, just before the Neuse River bridge.

I'm not sure why the US-70 upgrade project did not extend to the Buffalo Rd interchange, in order to address those bridges and the intersection (my recommendation: just close it), and extend the freeway all the way past I-95.

There were no signs of a speed drop, but a 60 mph sign still exists just before US-70 Business on the existing I-95 interchange bypass.

I imagine the speed would drop at the Neuse River, but no one will actually follow it through the freeway just east of there... not that anyone does today.