Interstate 73/74

[bob7374]

Great video. It does appear close. The major remaining items appear to be any I-40 flyover ramp work that needs completion, clean up of I-40 lanes and lane striping, especially at the northern end. If they are already signing the highway west of the Beltway as NC 192, you would not think it is too long before the Beltway section opens. Perhaps by the end of the summer at the latest? Hopefully GPS applications still say that the Beltway is closed between US 421 and I-74, unlike NCDOT's map that show the roadway as open.

UPDATE 7/10: This construction notice appeared on the NCDOT traffic page, indicating they removed the concrete barriers along I-40 West this week:
"Beginning tonight (7/7) thru Thursday night (7/9) the right lane of I-40 Westbound will be closed nightly from 9:00 pm to no later than 5:00 am the following morning. The closure location will be located from mile marker 201 to mile marker 198. The nightly closures are needed to allow diamond grinding of the travel lanes and for removal of portable concrete barrier."

[sprjus4]

Great video. It does appear close. The major remaining items appear to be any I-40 flyover ramp work that needs completion, clean up of I-40 lanes and lane striping, especially at the northern end. If they are already signing the highway west of the Beltway as NC 192, you would not think it is too long before the Beltway section opens. Perhaps by the end of the summer at the latest? Hopefully GPS applications still say that the Beltway is closed between US 421 and I-74, unlike NCDOT and Google Maps that show the roadway as open.

Google Maps lists the Beltway as closed.

[sprjus4]

I understand it might be outside the scope of the project, but I notice I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes through the I-74 interchange area and ending at Union Cross Road.

But it drops to 4 lanes to the west, just to open back up to 6 lanes when present-day I-74 (future NC-192) comes in just a mile past.

Why didn't they just go ahead and expand that section to 6 lanes to make it a uniform 6 lane cross section from NC-192 to Union Cross Road?

I believe NCDOT plans to eventually widen the entirety of I-40 between NC-192 and US-421 (former I-40 Business) to six lanes.

[Strider]

I understand it might be outside the scope of the project, but I notice I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes through the I-74 interchange area and ending at Union Cross Road.

But it drops to 4 lanes to the west, just to open back up to 6 lanes when present-day I-74 (future NC-192) comes in just a mile past.

Why didn't they just go ahead and expand that section to 6 lanes to make it a uniform 6 lane cross section from NC-192 to Union Cross Road?

I believe NCDOT plans to eventually widen the entirety of I-40 between NC-192 and US-421 (former I-40 Business) to six lanes.

Construction limits and it is a separate project. When I-40/I-74 interchange project begun, the construction limit is only between Union Cross Rd and the High Point Rd underpass that will widen I-40 to 6 lanes. The rest will come sometime in the future.

[sprjus4]

I understand it might be outside the scope of the project, but I notice I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes through the I-74 interchange area and ending at Union Cross Road.

But it drops to 4 lanes to the west, just to open back up to 6 lanes when present-day I-74 (future NC-192) comes in just a mile past.

Why didn't they just go ahead and expand that section to 6 lanes to make it a uniform 6 lane cross section from NC-192 to Union Cross Road?

I believe NCDOT plans to eventually widen the entirety of I-40 between NC-192 and US-421 (former I-40 Business) to six lanes.

Construction limits and it is a separate project. When I-40/I-74 interchange project begun, the construction limit is only between Union Cross Rd and the High Point Rd underpass that will widen I-40 to 6 lanes. The rest will come sometime in the future.

Yes, I understand it was outside the scope of the immediate project. My question is why wasn't it roped into the scope in order to save costs in the long run and just complete that section?

Regardless, at least they were forward thinking and widened I-40 in the I-74 interchange area to six lanes.

[MBHockey13]

I can confirm today they have NOT changed the signs for Future NC-192 on I-40 East - only on I-40 West and on the future NC-192 itself. The signs heading eastbound on I-40 still say I-40 East.

[Strider]

I understand it might be outside the scope of the project, but I notice I-40 is being widened to 6 lanes through the I-74 interchange area and ending at Union Cross Road.

But it drops to 4 lanes to the west, just to open back up to 6 lanes when present-day I-74 (future NC-192) comes in just a mile past.

Why didn't they just go ahead and expand that section to 6 lanes to make it a uniform 6 lane cross section from NC-192 to Union Cross Road?

I believe NCDOT plans to eventually widen the entirety of I-40 between NC-192 and US-421 (former I-40 Business) to six lanes.

Construction limits and it is a separate project. When I-40/I-74 interchange project begun, the construction limit is only between Union Cross Rd and the High Point Rd underpass that will widen I-40 to 6 lanes. The rest will come sometime in the future.

Yes, I understand it was outside the scope of the immediate project. My question is why wasn't it roped into the scope in order to save costs in the long run and just complete that section?

Regardless, at least they were forward thinking and widened I-40 in the I-74 interchange area to six lanes.

Who knows. I don't understand why they didn't include it either. I hope they will get to the 2-mile section between Future NC-192 and I-74 interchanges as soon as possible.

[jcil4ever]

Great video. It does appear close. The major remaining items appear to be any I-40 flyover ramp work that needs completion, clean up of I-40 lanes and lane striping, especially at the northern end. If they are already signing the highway west of the Beltway as NC 192, you would not think it is too long before the Beltway section opens. Perhaps by the end of the summer at the latest? Hopefully GPS applications still say that the Beltway is closed between US 421 and I-74, unlike NCDOT's map that show the roadway as open.

Drove home today and noticed that striping beyond 421 has begun, with the outside yellow and white lines added eastbound so far. That, and some covered signs are in the time stamps in the video description.

[bob7374]

Great video. It does appear close. The major remaining items appear to be any I-40 flyover ramp work that needs completion, clean up of I-40 lanes and lane striping, especially at the northern end. If they are already signing the highway west of the Beltway as NC 192, you would not think it is too long before the Beltway section opens. Perhaps by the end of the summer at the latest? Hopefully GPS applications still say that the Beltway is closed between US 421 and I-74, unlike NCDOT's map that show the roadway as open.

Drove home today and noticed that striping beyond 421 has begun, with the outside yellow and white lines added eastbound so far. That, and some covered signs are in the time stamps in the video description.

Checking the traffic camera at US 421 and the Beltway this morning shows that lane markings were installed along the future I-74 roadway last night. The NCDrive.gov map states work is continuing over the weekend to remove the last concrete barriers from I-40 West, suggesting some urgency. They also posted closures of lanes along I-74 West beyond Union Cross Road and East starting at Ridgewood Road for next weekend. Could this be a potential opening date?

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

[Dirt Roads]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

Wishful thinking.  The massive Salem Parkway upgrade couldn't bring that section through downtown Winston up to Interstate standards, so it is quite unlikely that NCDOT would try to bring US-52 up to Interstate standards.  However, it appears to me that a continuous I-74/I-285 parallel to I-77 would make a lot of sense at certain times of the day.

[carbaugh2]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

My sign gripe is that they didn't include Greensboro as a control city for 74 East. That would help divert traffic from downtown as well.

[Strider]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

My sign gripe is that they didn't include Greensboro as a control city for 74 East. That would help divert traffic from downtown as well.

No need because drivers already know if they want to go to Greensboro, they have to drive down either I-74 East or US-52 South and take US-421 South (East) or I-40 East. Besides, I-74 does not go through Greensboro.

[Strider]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

They are. That is why US-52 shield is in the middle. In the future, I-285 shield will be on the left of it and the I-274 shield will be on the right of it when the Western part of the WS Beltway is finished.

[carbaugh2]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

My sign gripe is that they didn't include Greensboro as a control city for 74 East. That would help divert traffic from downtown as well.

No need because drivers already know if they want to go to Greensboro, they have to drive down either I-74 East or US-52 South and take US-421 South (East) or I-40 East. Besides, I-74 does not go through Greensboro.

From an out of state traveler's perspective, I want the path of least resistance (traffic) to get to those roads (US 421 or I-40), which is using the Beltway. I-74 doesn't need to go to Greensboro, but it does give me more convenient and quicker access to the roads that do get me there.

Having vacationed at many NC beaches over the last 10 or so years, most often Ocean Isle Beach, I dreaded using US 52 in Winston-Salem to pick up Salem Parkway (then Business 40) or I-40 for all the reasons we have discussed ad nauseum (tight lanes, minimal exit spacing, etc.). You want to keep people like my vacationing family from adding to the downtown traffic (or making it worse when we miss an exit and try to correct a mistake at the last moment ) and use the high-speed connections offered by the Beltway.

Using an example from near my home, I-70 East has one pull through sign at Buckeye Lake (Exit 129) that lists Wheeling and Pittsburgh as the control cities. While I-70 doesn't go to Pittsburgh, it is still the fastest way to get there from East Central Ohio with its connection to I-79 in Washington, PA. I wish ODOT (and WVDOT) would list Pittsburgh as a second control city on the rest of its pull through signs east of Columbus (and Wheeling).

[Strider]

Maybe they should have left space on the US 52 sign for an Interstate 285 shield to be placed in the future.

My sign gripe is that they didn't include Greensboro as a control city for 74 East. That would help divert traffic from downtown as well.

No need because drivers already know if they want to go to Greensboro, they have to drive down either I-74 East or US-52 South and take US-421 South (East) or I-40 East. Besides, I-74 does not go through Greensboro.

From an out of state traveler's perspective, I want the path of least resistance (traffic) to get to those roads (US 421 or I-40), which is using the Beltway. I-74 doesn't need to go to Greensboro, but it does give me more convenient and quicker access to the roads that do get me there.

Having vacationed at many NC beaches over the last 10 or so years, most often Ocean Isle Beach, I dreaded using US 52 in Winston-Salem to pick up Salem Parkway (then Business 40) or I-40 for all the reasons we have discussed ad nauseum (tight lanes, minimal exit spacing, etc.). You want to keep people like my vacationing family from adding to the downtown traffic (or making it worse when we miss an exit and try to correct a mistake at the last moment ) and use the high-speed connections offered by the Beltway.

Using an example from near my home, I-70 East has one pull through sign at Buckeye Lake (Exit 129) that lists Wheeling and Pittsburgh as the control cities. While I-70 doesn't go to Pittsburgh, it is still the fastest way to get there from East Central Ohio with its connection to I-79 in Washington, PA. I wish ODOT (and WVDOT) would list Pittsburgh as a second control city on the rest of its pull through signs east of Columbus (and Wheeling).

You already know how to get to Greensboro or at least pass through the city through experience, so that's the reason why there's no need to add Greensboro as a control city on I-74 East as you will see it pop up on either I-74 or US-52 route. By the way, most drivers use GPS nowadays.