Skip to main content

Update on I-74 in NC

While I was away in New England (more on that in a later post), several developments occurred regarding I-74 in NC. I'll use this post to summarize them and provide links to those who want more information.
1. Significant progress in building the new I-74 Freeway in SE NC:
According to a source, all the bridges in the section that includes the I-95 interchange are complete. This eastern section is 92% complete as of mid-July according to NCDOT. The western section is basically complete with 99% done. I assume the remainder is line-striping and signage which may wait until the eastern section is ready so it can be done at the same time. There are some photos showing the progress on the bridges at the bottom of my I-74 Segment 16 page.

2. NCDOT's Revised Recommendations for Brunswick County Traffic Plan includes new route for I-74:
The county asked NCDOT to revise its earlier plan feeling it did not provide enough new or updated roads to handle the county's future traffic. The new report proposes an extended I-74 toll route from Shallotte to the SC border, not an upgraded US 17 to interstate standards (it will be upgraded only to an expressway). The toll road will thus parallel US 17 and connect right in with the Carolina Bays Parkway at the SC border. They also want a connector route built between I-74 and I-140, but first the Wilmington MPO would have to sign off on the idea since I-140 is in New Hanover County.
More details are available on my I-74 Segment 18 page.
The NCDOT Report is available here
Comment: It seems hard to believe an extended toll facility will produce any more revenue than the original proposed route which a study said would only take in about 50% of what was needed to build the highway, especially since the new extension would parallel an improved US 17 in its entirety.

3. NCDOT may be putting up I-74 signs along the US 311 freeway between I-40 and Business 85 this summer instead of in 2011:
A couple items listed on NCDOT's traffic information website regarding lane closures for new signage along US 311 that if put together covered the entire length of the existing US 311 freeway. There were no contracts listed for new signage along this roadway except for the one building the next part of the US 311/I-74 freeway from Business 85 past I-85. This was for placing new signs with I-74 exit numbers and the putting up of Future I-74 or I-74 signs. I assumed this would be done when the route to I-85 was opened in 2011, but maybe not. Curious, I drove US 311 as a little detour on the way back from New England. There are new signposts placed behind all the current exit signs between I-40 and US 311 business, there were also two signposts placed near each of the current US 311 signs along the highway. This suggest placing of new standard multi-route green signs with both a I-74 and US 311 shields in them. Almost all the exit signs had new posts near them, there was, however, nothing new on the new section of road east of Business 311. The work is to over by the end of August, so time will tell if actual signs are going up, not just posts. If you want to see photos of what I describe above there are a couple at the bottom of my
I-74 Segment 5 page.

Unrelated, but of interest. When traveling back the I-40/85 Greensboro Loop I noticed they had replaced the sloppy looking little I-40 signs next to the I-85 signs after each exit with the new standard green signs listing both routes. There was still a noticeable problem however. The I-40 shield had the 40 fill the entire blue portion, while the 85 in the other shield was smaller like a shield room for a state name, thus now if you look at it quickly it appears like the I-85 shield is smaller. Sorry no photos, too much traffic.

Here's a preview photo from my upcoming New England post:

This is the some of the new signage along MA 3, specifically at the ramp leading from Washington St in Braintree to I-93/US 1/MA 3. The right sign formerly read I-93/3 North, the left signs' control city was Dedham. Now note the last two designations are not listed (US 1 may be added to the signs later, MA 3 will not) and Canton is the control city for I-93 which if more fitting because it ends there. I have more photos of the signage at this and other interchanges and will post a link in my next entry.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (Memphis, TN)

  Like the expansion of the railroads the previous century, the modernization of the country’s highway infrastructure in the early and mid 20th Century required the construction of new landmark bridges along the lower Mississippi River (and nation-wide for that matter) that would facilitate the expected growth in overall traffic demand in ensuing decades. While this new movement had been anticipated to some extent in the Memphis area with the design of the Harahan Bridge, neither it nor its neighbor the older Frisco Bridge were capable of accommodating the sharp rise in the popularity and demand of the automobile as a mode of cross-river transportation during the Great Depression. As was the case 30 years prior, the solution in the 1940s was to construct a new bridge in the same general location as its predecessors, only this time the bridge would be the first built exclusively for vehicle traffic. This bridge, the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, was completed in 1949 and was the third

Old River Lock & Control Structure (Lettsworth, LA)

  The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and its connecting satellite facilities combine to form one of the most impressive flood control complexes in North America. Located along the west bank of the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Red River and Atchafalaya River nearby, this structure system was fundamentally made possible by the Flood Control Act of 1928 that was passed by the United States Congress in the aftermath of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 however a second, less obvious motivation influenced the construction here. The Mississippi River’s channel has gradually elongated and meandered in the area over the centuries, creating new oxbows and sandbars that made navigation of the river challenging and time-consuming through the steamboat era of the 1800s. This treacherous area of the river known as “Turnbull’s Bend” was where the mouth of the Red River was located that the upriver end of the bend and the Atchafalaya River, then effectively an outflow

California State Route 203 the proposed Minaret Summit Highway

California State Route 203 is an approximately nine-mile State Highway located near Mammoth Lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Mono County.  California State Route 203 as presently configured begins at US Route 395, passes through Mammoth Lakes and terminates at the Madera County line at Minaret Summit.  What is now California State Route 203 was added to the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route Number 112.  The original Mammoth Lakes State Highway ended at Lake Mary near the site of Old Mammoth and was renumbered to California State Route 203 in 1964.  The modern alignment of the highway to Minaret Summit was adopted during 1967.   The corridor of Minaret Summit and Mammoth Pass have been subject to numerous proposed Trans-Sierra Highways.  The first corridor was proposed over Mammoth Pass following a Southern Pacific Railroad survey in 1901.  In 1931 a corridor between the Minarets Wilderness and High Sierra Peaks Wilderness was reserved by the Forest Service for po