Skip to main content

Goodbye Interstate 495; Hello Interstate 87

Image
By
If you live in or drive in Eastern Wake County - you'll be seeing a lot more of sign combinations like this one soon.
It seems like yesterday when I blogged about new Future Interstate 495 signs that were going to be installed along US 64 along the Knightdale Bypass and along the way to Rocky Mount.  Well after just three years, Interstate 495 is officially no more.  This week NCDOT crews began to install Interstate 87 shields along the Raleigh Beltline and Knightdale Bypass from Southeast Raleigh to Rolesville Road in Wendell.  The new interstate designation follows Interstate 440 west from I-40 near Garner leaving the Beltline at the Knightdale Bypass and following US 64/264 about another 12 or so miles until the six lane portion of the Knightdale Bypass ends just beyond Business US 64.

Eventually, Interstate 87 will continue east along US 64 past Zebulon, Rocky Mount and Tarboro to Williamston where it will head north and northeast along US 17 into Virginia and Norfolk.  The new signs reflect the first official section of Interstate 87 in North Carolina - as the Knightdale Bypass meets national Interstate standards.

This introduction and installation of Interstate 87 signs onto the Knightdale Bypass will be a multi-step process.  The first step is what you see on the highway now - new Interstate 87 shields on the ground along the main highway.  Surface streets, like New Hope Road, Hodge Road, Smithfield Road and Wendell Falls Parkway, that have interchanges with the new Interstate will also see I-87 signs pop up as they approach the highway.  The last step will be updating or replacing existing overhead signs along I-40, I-440 and I-540 with the new designation.  So for a few weeks, maybe months, you'll still see some Interstate 495 shields and signs in the area.

Speaking of the overall signage plans - there will also be another major change to the signage along the Knightdale Bypass (and eventually US 64).  The exit numbers will be changed to reflect Interstate 87's mileage.  There will be new exit numbers for the interchanges at I-440, New Hope Road, Hodge Road, I-540, Smithfield Road, Wendell Falls Parkway, Wendell Blvd./Business 64 and Rolesville Road.

Interchange Old Exit # New Exit #
Interstate 440 West 419 3
New Hope Road 420 4
Hodge Road 422 6
Interstate 540 423 7
Smithfield Road 425 9
Wendell Falls Parkway 427 11
US 64 Business / Wendell Blvd. 429 13
Rolesville Road 430 14

This may be slightly confusing as it appears that the next exit east - Lizard Lick Road/Wendell - will remain with its current number, Exit 432.  Though eventually those exit numbers will also change.

A contact of mine at NCDOT passed along to me the overall signage plans for Interstate 87 along the Knightdale Bypass.  A few samples are below.

New signage for I-87 at the I-40 Beltline Merge in Southeast Raleigh.  I-87 and I-440 will both end at I-40. (NCDOT)

Proposed signage for Interstate 87 at the junction of the Knightdale Bypass and the Raleigh Beltline (I-440). You can see how the exit numbers for US 64 (Exits 419, 420 etc.) are being changed to reflect Interstate 87 (3, 4, 6, etc.) (NCDOT)

Interstate 87 signs at Hodge Road and Interstate 540.  (NCDOT)

Signs along Business 64 at the Knightdale Bypass. There will only be updates to signs for US 64/264 West to include Interstate 87 - as I-87's temporary end is at this interchange. (NCDOT)

Proposed Interstate 87 signage plans along US 64/264 West approaching Rolesville Road.  This will be where Interstate 87 will begin.  I am unsure if exits east of here will be updated or remain with US 64's mileage (430 and higher) (NCDOT)

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
What in you opinion would I-87 in NC/VA connect to its older Northern neighbor I-87 in New York City? Does it take Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel or use I-64 to I-95 in Richmond?
7:00 AM
Steve said…
@John

I would estimate that it would use US-13 across the CBBT (should it happen of course). They are already in the process of upgrading the Thimble Shoals Channel Tunnel to 4 lanes, and sometime within the next two decades, the Chesapeake Channel Tunnel will get upgraded as well.

Now my vision, I-87 would follow current I-464 in Chesapeake up to Norfolk, then I-264 after that into VA Beach. The problem from there is how would they handle converting that section of U.S. 13 in VA Beach leading to the CBBT into a freeway, plus the interchanges required to do so.

So that is probably why they won't bother... at least for a VERY LONG TIME.
2:15 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

By
The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...
1 comment
Read more

The Dummy Lights of New York

By
  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

By
Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...
Post a Comment
Read more