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[wdcrft63]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

[Roadsguy]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

So is it reasonably certain at this point that Alternative 4B is being selected?

[LM117]

Update on the 10th Street Connector project in Greenville.

http://www.reflector.com/News/2018/11/20/Planning-board-to-hear-revised-Watauga-Avenue-request.html

The N.C. Department of Transportation is installing brick crosswalks at the intersection of 10th and Evans streets as part of the ongoing work to complete the 10th Street Connector. The sidewalks are among several design elements meant to enhance the roadway as a new gateway to the the city and the main campus of East Carolina University.

Detours in the area are expected to remain in place through Dec. 14, when the sidewalk work is expected to be completed. The connector itself will not open until the spring of 2019 at the earliest, Sarah Lentine, the DOT’s resident engineer in Pitt County, said on Monday.

Crews are scheduled to begin paving the main line and side roads connecting to project in April and May, Lentine said. The road will be ready to open before summer provided weather cause no delays, she said, but no portion of the project will open until then.

In addition to the DOT work on Evans, crews working for the city have shut down Fourth Street just east of Reade Street through February as part of ongoing updates to the Town Creek Culvert. Traffic has been rerouted to East Third Street, which reopened after a culvert collapse nearly three years ago, at East Fifth, which will close after the work at Fourth Street is completed.

The city also is installing traffic safety delineators at six busy intersections this month. The delineators limit left turns and through traffic in center turn lanes at the intersections.

The locations include Charles Boulevard at Turnbury, Smythewyck, Elm Street and Oakmont Drive; Arlington Boulevard and Wimbledon Drive and Greenville Boulevard at Belvedere Drive.

Project page:

https://www.greenvillenc.gov/government/public-works/major-projects/tenth-street-connector-project

[mvak36]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

So is it reasonably certain at this point that Alternative 4B is being selected?

More than likely. It was their Preferred Alternative back in 2015. So unless something changed, it will be Alternative 4B.

[D-Dey65]

I spotted a lot more construction along I-95 between Exits 100 and 107, and I got some pictures from the proposed realignment of the Truck Stop Road bridge (Exit 106), which I'm hoping to upload soon.

[VTGoose]

Avoiding Charlotte -- On Friday, my wife and I drove to Charlotte for the Southern Living Christmas Show and sat in heavy, slow traffic from around Mooresville all the way to the I-277 exit. We saw the same heavy traffic heading north on Saturday. I started looking for a way around that construction abomination for our trip to Florida on Tuesday. Saw U.S. 321 to the west running from I-40, but that route would have required a backtrack on I-85 to I-485 or travel on South Carolina back roads (after getting out of Gastonia) to hit I-77 further south. Then I saw NC 16, which ran from I-40 to I-485. A view on Google maps showed it to be mostly four-lane, so I took a chance. Interesting highway with the usual North Carolina "no rhyme or reason" construction. We got off at exit 133, Rock Barn Road, and took a short jaunt over to NC 16. Followed that south through a suburban area without much traffic until we go to the junction of Business NC 16. From there south there was construction to add two new lanes to the current two-lane highway. In the middle of the project, which was at various stages of grading, was a section with fresh asphalt lanes but a lot of work still to be done. From there, the grading went from almost ready to pave to working on the subgrade to rough grading to "well, that's where the road will be." The location of the paving really didn't make sense in the overall scheme -- but it's North Carolina. Once we got close to Killian Crossroads, the divided highway started and it was smooth sailing to I-485. That section of highway was interesting, left turns across traffic from side roads isn't permitted. One has to turn right, travel a short distance, then change direction via a dedicated U-turn crossover.

The end result was we kept moving at a good clip and didn't lose any time trying to get through/around Charlotte via I-77. NC 16 is a nice alternative.

Bruce in Blacksburg

[cowboy_wilhelm]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

Here's a link to the detailed section maps.

[Roadsguy]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

Here's a link to the detailed section maps.

I notice they reduced plans for the I-240 concurrent section from eight lanes to six. They also removed all the detailed PDF maps for the old alternatives since yesterday. Fortunately I downloaded them a while back.

[D-Dey65]

Weird, but I'm becoming mysteriously more fascinated with the roads of Four Oaks. There's so much interesting stuff about it. The old northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp at Hockaday Mill Road, the US 301-701-NC 96 interchange, the Old NC 96... and last month I snapped pics of the roads of the area that I'm still in the process of posting in the Wikimedia Commons.

[Roadsguy]

What's this blank shield space supposed to be for on this APL near Wilmington?

[sparker]

What's this blank shield space supposed to be for on this APL near Wilmington?

Probably a "TO WEST I-74" trailblazer if and when that facility was extended east to Bolton, where it is currently slated to turn SE toward US 17.   Alternately: a x74 3di if that is designated in the interim.

[bob7374]

What's this blank shield space supposed to be for on this APL near Wilmington?

Probably a "TO WEST I-74" trailblazer if and when that facility was extended east to Bolton, where it is currently slated to turn SE toward US 17.   Alternately: a x74 3di if that is designated in the interim.

Or plain I-74 if the route is changed to end in Wilmington instead of Myrtle Beach.

[Roadsguy]

What's this blank shield space supposed to be for on this APL near Wilmington?

Probably a "TO WEST I-74" trailblazer if and when that facility was extended east to Bolton, where it is currently slated to turn SE toward US 17.   Alternately: a x74 3di if that is designated in the interim.

Or plain I-74 if the route is changed to end in Wilmington instead of Myrtle Beach.

Whatever it is can't be both "To" and a direction since there isn't enough room, and even if NCDOT would rather reroute I-74 to Wilmington, having the interstate shield last after the two US routes is unusual if not disallowed entirely by the MUTCD. It would have to be "To I-X," or just "To" any other route.

[WashuOtaku]

Probably a "TO WEST I-74" trailblazer if and when that facility was extended east to Bolton, where it is currently slated to turn SE toward US 17.   Alternately: a x74 3di if that is designated in the interim.

Or plain I-74 if the route is changed to end in Wilmington instead of Myrtle Beach.

 You know that isn't happening, keep dreaming. 

[sparker]

Probably a "TO WEST I-74" trailblazer if and when that facility was extended east to Bolton, where it is currently slated to turn SE toward US 17.   Alternately: a x74 3di if that is designated in the interim.

Or plain I-74 if the route is changed to end in Wilmington instead of Myrtle Beach.

 You know that isn't happening, keep dreaming. 

If nothing happens at the federal level regarding modifying the HPC #5 legislation to divert I-74 to Wilmington, what will probably happen is that US 74/76 from Bolton to at least I-140 will be submitted for an x74 3di, and plans for that facility will be prioritized over the authorized segment down NC 211.  One way or another NC isn't going to miss the chance to serve its premier coastal city (in a similar fashion to the I-69/369 continuum in TX). 

[cowboy_wilhelm]

The NCDOT estimates that it will be another two weeks before the NC 108 to I-26 west ramp at Exit 67 and the US 74 west to NC 108 ramp (Exit 161) are re-opened in Columbus. The ramps have been closed since July, except for two weeks in September while the World Equestrian Games were held at the nearby Tryon International Equestrian Center. Exit 66 on I-26 west to US 74 east opened in August. The new ramp from US 74 west to I-26 east will not be finished until spring 2019. An additional $10.4 million has been requested from the Board of Transportation for the project.

Ramp to I-26 West needs 2 more weeks - The Tryon Daily Bulletin

[Roadsguy]

Is there an easy way to find the let date of projects or otherwise search through https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/dsplan/ for specific projects? Google site searching only searches PDF contents and not the directories.

[cowboy_wilhelm]

Is there an easy way to find the let date of projects or otherwise search through https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/dsplan/ for specific projects? Google site searching only searches PDF contents and not the directories.

I'm not aware of a way to search through their xfer site. It might be possible through a FTP client (if it works that way).

The 12-month and 36-month tentative letting lists includes the let dates and descriptions for upcoming projects. This is updated monthly for central-let and design-build projects. I've never had luck finding plans for design-build projects online, since the whole point of design-build is that the project is let before designs are finalized.

NCDOT Letting Lists

You can also try searching through the bidding and letting documents here to find awarded projects.

You can use the Construction Progress Report to find the let dates of projects currently under construction. This is searchable by county, project number, or contract number.

[LM117]

NCDOT is holding a public meeting on December 13 to discuss building a new interchange on I-40 at Blue Ridge Road in Black Mountain.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-12-03-i-40-blue-ridge-road-meeting.aspx

——-

Also, renovations to the Welcome Center on I-40 in Haywood County will be underway starting next week.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-11-30-i-40-welcome-center-renovation.aspx

[Roadsguy]

I was poking around in the sign plans for the Military Cutoff Road extension. While the project site doesn't say anything about the rerouted US 17 and shows it on 140 on all the main project maps, the actual signs do of course have US 17 on its new alignment. US 17 won't be routed onto the Military Cutoff Road extension; instead, it will be some TBD state route. (The plans show a blank NC shield.) However, it includes the future signs for when the Hampstead Bypass is built, and while they only show a dashed square with a "By-Pass" banner in place of the shield, it's obvious that the Bypass and the Military Cutoff Road extension will become US 17 Bypass.

They also don't seem to be in a hurry to make the new eastern NC 140 into an extension of I-140. All the new signs have NC 140 shields with no mention of an overlay, though the same is true for NC 295...

[LM117]

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-12-04-old-manns-harbor-bridge-closure.aspx

MANNS HARBOR - The N.C. Department of Transportation will close the William B. Umstead Bridge, locally known as the Old Manns Harbor Bridge, between 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 10 and 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 14.

During the closure, workers will be making concrete and metal repairs in order to replace an expansion joint at the eastern end of the bridge. The joint was one of two bridge joint replacements scheduled for September, but work on the second one was postponed to accommodate the Outer Banks Triathlon and Cycle Race.

While the bridge is closed, motorists will still be able to cross Croatan Sound between Roanoke Island and the Dare County mainland via the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge.

[LM117]

A meeting is being held on December 13 in Rocky Mount to discuss several proposed projects in the area, including building a new interchange on I-95 with Sunset Avenue.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-12-05-nash-county-meeting-for-road-improvements.aspx

[LM117]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to build the next section of NC-540 between US-401 and I-40.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-12-04-contract-awarded-complete-540.aspx

[wdcrft63]

NCDOT has awarded a contract to build the next section of NC-540 between US-401 and I-40.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2018/2018-12-04-contract-awarded-complete-540.aspx

First of three contracts, covering the east end of the project (US 401 to I-40/US 70). Completion date is 2023.

[wdcrft63]

There will be a public meeting in Asheville on December 4 concerning the "completed preliminary designs for the preferred alternative for the I-26 Connector Project (I-2513)" in Asheville. Regular visitors to the forum will know that this project involves a major upgrade to the western arc of I-26/240 and the construction of a giant interchange connecting that segment to I-26 north. The project has been through NIMBY hell for years, and now we're getting close to a resolution. I think. NCDOT has booked the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel for this meeting, so they're expecting a crowd.

Meeting announcement here: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Public_Notice.pdf

The "key map" is a good overview of the project: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings/Documents/I-2513_Key_Map.pdf

Here is press coverage of the public hearing yesterday on the I-26 Connector:

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/12/05/fix-26-connector-plans-scrap-them-asheville-residents-debate/2214770002/

No major surprises. 450 people showed up. Quite a few of then want to junk the whole thing; that's been true from the beginning. Others had many suggestions for improvement. NCDOT has already made big changes in this project based on the public uproar. Final plans will be released next year with a construction start in 2020. Price tag: $950M.