USDOT loans $384 million for Triangle Expressway

Another piece of the complex financing puzzle for the Triangle Expressway (NC 540) fell into place today, as the US Department of Transportation signed off on a $384 million load for construction of the toll road.

This along with two other pieces - $600 million in bond sales (which have just been recently put on the market) and from an annual $25 million in 'gap financing' in the North Carolina budget. the total cost of the 12.6 toll road about $1.1 billion.

The loan comes from the USDOT's Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan program. The Triangle Expressway's tolls will help to repay that loan.

The hope is to start construction later this year - maybe as soon as August (though that line has been used for two or three straight years now) - with completion of the Durham Freeway/I-40 connector by 2012 and the entire highway by 2013.

We'll see how accurate those dates are.

Story Links w/video:
$384M loan approved for Triangle Expressway's future ---News14Carolina
Money approved to extend I-540 ---WTVD-TV

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California State Route 152

Circumstance had me out in the Monterey Peninsula again this week. Generally I try to take a route like California State Route 198 or ever County Route J1 to get across the Diablo Range but time had me in a slight bind. That being the case I took the popular way across the Diablos on California State Route 152 via Pacheco Pass. 152 is one of infamy given it is really the primary route for truckers to get from I-5 west in San Joaquin Valley to US 101 in Salinas Valley. After zig-zagging some accidents on/off California State Route 99 near Madera in the rural outskirts of the County bearing the same name I began my westbound trek on 152.

CA 152 is called the William Whitehurst Highway, at least it is west from CA 99. The entire route of CA 152 in San Joaquin is an expressway aside from a small portion in the city of Los Banos.

The first junction on CA 152 is with CA 233 which is a small 4 mile highway that travels northeast to CA 99.

Next westbound CA 152 encounters the junction w…

The National Road - Ohio - Muskingum and Licking Counties

As it travels from Zanesville towards Columbus, US 40 goes through numerous small towns, changes from two to four lanes and back numerous times, but most importantly the old road keeps its rural charm. Between Zanesville and Gratiot, there are four former alignments of the old road that can be found: just west of Zanesville, Mt. Sterling, Hopewell and Gratiot. Most stretches are very short and can be easily recognized with names as "Old US 40", "Old National Road" or some combination of the two.

Zanesville:
Just west of US 40's interchange with Interstate 70 (Exit 152) runs an old alignment.

Mt. Sterling:
Another old alignment goes through this small Muskingum County village.
Hopewell:
Today, US 40 passes south of the community of Hopewell. The old two lane road is known as Hopewell National Road.
Gratiot:
Old US 40 is known as Main Street in this tiny village of 200 or so residents. The old highway at times seems forgotten through here.
Just west of Gratiot, US 40 …

Throwback Thursday - October 12, 2017

In this week's edition of Throwback Thursday, we travel back to December 2003 to the southern end of Interstate 99 in Bedford, Pennsylvania, where we can see button copy guide signage for US 30 and US 220 (US 220 runs concurrent with I-99 through this part of the Keystone State). Since I-99 was relatively new at the time, it feels like it was an afterthought.

Sure, Why Not?

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