Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

State announces new Interstate for Triad, soon after announcing Raleigh to Norfolk (i-87) and Garner to Morehead City (I-42). Still no Charlotte to Wilmington. Absurd.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article200236949.html

Edited February 15, 2018 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[jtmonk]

6 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

State announces new Interstate for Triad, soon after announcing Raleigh to Norfolk (i-87) and Garner to Morehead City (I-42). Still no Charlotte to Wilmington. Absurd.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article200236949.html

Agreed, but the interstate referenced in the article (i-285) has been on the books for a long time and was built decades ago, they only had to upgrade a small section in Lexington to interstate standards in order to have the whole section designated an Interstate so it's not like the state is throwing a lot of money at this that would otherwise be used for an interstate elsewhere in the state. 

[kickazzz2000]

On 2/15/2018 at 10:31 AM, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

State announces new Interstate for Triad, soon after announcing Raleigh to Norfolk (i-87) and Garner to Morehead City (I-42). Still no Charlotte to Wilmington. Absurd.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article200236949.html

Ridiculous.

[Exile]

Somebody needs to come up with a designation other than "Interstate" for a road that won't get within 30 miles of a neighboring state. "Freeway" seems to have gone out of usage, but if there aren't any tolls, it's near-perfectly descriptive.

[Nick2]

Nevermind. Delete please

Edited September 13, 2018 by Nick2

[DCMetroRaleigh]

The N.C. Department of Transportation announced Thursday two highway projects intended to ease traffic and make traveling through Richmond County safer.

One project will convert U.S. 74 from Hamlet to Laurinburg — now a four-lane highway — into an interstate highway with ramps, loops and bridges, said NCDOT spokesman Andrew Barksdale, The project is intended to begin in 2028.

“For this section, it will be $136 million,” Barksdale said. “It will be a lot safer and a lot quicker” getting onto the highway from new ramps and bridges, he said, rather than side roads where people tend to stop rather than merge.

The project also will benefit Richmond County, he said, because drivers will be able to get to beaches quicker, and goods will travel to Wilmington ports faster.

https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/news/82618/dot-will-extend-interstate-east-of-hamlet

[Nick2]

Holy crap. Ten years?! That seems almost unreasonable.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Nick2

[DCMetroRaleigh]

NCDOT adds “Constructing part of the U.S. 74 Wadesboro Bypass in Anson County”  to its new draft plan:

 

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-01-10-draft-stip.aspx

The Rockingham bypass project that was slated to begin in 2026 will be accelerated to begin as early as this fall as part of the Department of Transportation’s 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to be announced Thursday.

The bypass project is the same that created the infamous curve on U.S. 220 South where at least two tractor trailers have gone over the guardrail and many other vehicles have wrecked since its opening last summer. Under the new STIP, the rest of the project will go out to bid this fall and begin construction at the end of this year or early next year, six years earlier than it it was previously scheduled to begin. 

 

https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/news/84661/bypass-project-around-rockingham-accelerated-from-2026-to-2020

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Quote

State transportation officials have awarded a contract to begin constructing an interstate bypass of Rockingham in Richmond County.

Vecellio & Grogan Inc. of Beckley, W.V. was awarded the contract at $146.1 million. Per state law, the project went to the lowest bidder among qualified contractors.

The N.C. Department of Transportation proposes to construct a 7.2-mile bypass on new location to connect U.S. 220 north of Rockingham to U.S. 74 Bypass on the west side of the city. The route will become a portion of Future Interstate 73/74.

 

Work on the four-lane, median-divided freeway can begin as early as Nov. 25 and is scheduled for substantial completion by the fall of 2023.

Existing U.S. 74 Bypass will be upgraded between the section west of Zion Church Road and the U.S. 74 Business interchange to include six 12-foot travel lanes and a 60-foot median. The new location highway section between the U.S. 74 Business interchange and U.S. 220 interchange will include four 12-foot travel lanes with a 70-foot median.

https://transportationtodaynews.com/news/15970-ncdot-awards-contract-for-bypass-project/

Edited November 27, 2019 by DCMetroRaleigh

[DCMetroRaleigh]

South Carolina is finally committing money to I-73:

https://www.wbtw.com/growthtracker/mcmaster-to-give-300-million-for-i-73-in-horry-county-state-senator-says/

 

[NcSc74]

On 3/27/2018 at 5:18 PM, kickazzz2000 said:

Ridiculous.

Just commented on this.  I swear NCDOT and whoever in Raleigh are still sitting at a cafe in Mayberry.  Charlotte's interstates are crap; 1960's finest. Nothing says world class like the 77/85 interchange and no interstate or spur to the east. No other major city has such an antiquated freeway system.  I do alot traviling and trust me Charlotte's peer cities are building thier infrastructure like crazy. Sometimes I think the farmers up in the state legislature are taking bribes from SC business folks.You know, no competition for Myrtle or Charleston.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

I think NC overall has a good highway network, but maybe it’s because I live in VA now, which seems to have stopped building new freeways and interstates decade ago. However, NC needs a Charlotte to Wilmington freeway, as well as a Raleigh to Outer Banks freeway. I would also like to see US 64 converted to a freeway throughout the Piedmont, as well as US 52 From Salisbury to Wadesboro.

Edited December 14, 2021 by DCMetroRaleigh

[NcSc74]

On 12/14/2021 at 4:08 PM, DCMetroRaleigh said:

I think NC overall has a good highway network, but maybe it’s because I live in VA now, which seems to have stopped building new freeways and interstates decade ago. However, NC needs a Charlotte to Wilmington freeway, as well as a Raleigh to Outer Banks freeway. I would also like to see US 64 converted to a freeway throughout the Piedmont, as well as US 52 From Salisbury to Wadesboro.

I think because of VA's concentrated population centers has allowed VDOT to focus on updating and improving highways as compared with NC's multi-nodal population density.  I give NCDOT a hard time but I know they are limited by budgets.  Having to build and plan for around 10 separate cities that need major roads has to be challenging.  I just hate that Raleigh and Charlotte have to fight for scraps and deal with value engineered highway infrastrucure.  

[DCMetroRaleigh]

Frankenstein’s Highway: How Myrtle Beach is still trying to will I-73 into existence

https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/politics-government/article260129410.htmlYep