Skip to main content

NCDOT Approves I-74 'Widening'

On the same day NCDOT announced a major reorganization to make it more efficient and less prone to errors they also announced the winning bids for several construction contracts. These included the design-build contract for the remainder of the US 311 bypass (I-74), 7.9 miles from Spencer Road to US 220. Construction is to start September 2 and the project is to be completed by 2012. It will be built using GARVEE bond funds. The one problem though is that in all press releases for this project they refer to the project as a 'widening.'

See the press release HERE.

Comments: At least it appears they got the mileage for the project correct this time. They still insist the 10+ mile section now under construction is about 6 miles long. I guess it's two steps forward and one step back, so I guess that counts as progress.

Speaking of the existing I-74 project from Business 85 to Spencer Road that is due to be finished in 2011, it is almost twice ahead of schedule as projected (40% vs 21%). A source that lives nearer the construction site took a look at the I-85 interchange area yesterday and said many of the bridges are now paved along with one of the C/D ramps they're building along I-85 which was being used by construction equipment. I may be out that way next week, if so I'll try to post some photos.

Comments

Bob Malme said…
When I saw no change yesterday in the press releases indicating that the new I-74 contract was for widening, I decided to e-mail the communications office. I pointed out that this was an error and that the project press release should indicate the design-build contract was for constructing a new roadway.

I guess NCDOT's new mantra of responding more quickly to the public is true in this case. If you click the link above to the press release you will notice a smaller type 'Constructing' has replaced 'Widening' in the first sentence. If only they were as quick as this in correcting sign errors.

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...