Insterstate 26 Question

[GSP Tiger]

Does anyone know the current statuses of Interstate 26's Asheville connector or widening project through Hendersonville?

[orulz]

Here's the official status, taken from NCDOT's 2004-2012 Transportation Improvement Program and the I-26 Connector homepage:

A final alternative for the route of the I-26 connector will be selected in Spring of 2006. Construction, originally scheduled to last from 2008-2012, is now scheduled to begin in 2012.

According to this article in the Mountain Xpress, a new and improved study completed last month conducted by the DOT itself shows that 6 lanes is plenty for the section of 26/240 through West Asheville. They still haven't changed their official stance on the 8 lanes vs 6 lanes issue, but they haven't really had any press releases or public meetings since the study was released, so let's just wait and see what they have to say.

The I-26 widening from I-40 to Airport Rd is also officially on hold. Among other issues facing this project, one big one I can think of are that the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses it on a high bridge, which would have to be torn down and replaced (expensive!) My guess is that they're counting on recent improvements to US25 and NC191 to take some of the load off of I-26.