Columbus Day I-74 Road Trip Discoveries

I took a trip back to the completely open I-74/US 74 freeway to check out the westbound side, which was closed before, and to see what they had done to solve the exit number problem.

I approached the new freeway via I-95. The new Exit 13 signs start out 2 miles in advance.

They have completely demolished the former US 74 (Exit 14) ramps as you can see just before the ramps for the new exit begin. The closeness of the 2 ramps shows why they could not keep the old ramp in service...

The ramps lead to, depending on your point of view, some of the most unique or most confusing BGSs ever to appear on an interstate. Here are photos from both north and south off ramps...

These are taken from the C/D ramps heading southbound on I-95, the only destination I-74 currently goes to is Laurinburg.

I took the eastbound ramp to see how close to completion the freeway was east of I-95.

Coming back, I did a quick 180 to show the signs from the C/D ramps going northbound for those who may be coming to investigate from points south.

This is from the on ramp to Alternate US 74. As you can see there still doing work there, though all the signs are up. Again, these signs may be confusing to some. They have not finished putting the final coat of pavement on the last 2 miles of the freeway and there are no I-74 signs or mileposts past the Alternate 74 exit. Here's a closeup of signs going further along Alternate 74...

For those wondering what the control cities at the various exits east of I-95 are, this should satisfy your curiosity...

Laurinburg is used in place of Rockingham at on ramps closer to that city.

I took the following photos to show how the interchange at NC 710 had changed, formerly the end of the freeway....

This is the NC 710 exit westbound. First, you'll notice the old exit numbers are used. They have started the process of removing the original mileposts that are wrong between what is now Exit 203 (Dew Rd) and is still Exit 220 (Alt/Bus US 74) to the west, but the none of the exit numbers on the old stretch have been changed to back the new. This will probably be Exit 199.

The previous version of the photo you may have seen had the east 74/74 signs covered up. This ramp design is unique in that the entrance is to the left due to the existing road the van is parked on to the right.

I continued on to Laurinburg to see if they had switched out the previous 55 mph speed limit signs. Not only is the speed now 70 for all of the new freeway, the 70 mph limit continues all along the Maxton Bypass until the Scotland County line where it is reduced to 60 mph. The 70 mph stretch is still not up to Interstate standards, as this photo will attest...

Exit numbers have not changed along the Laurinburg Bypass, but they have been covered over for what was Exit 207 (Business US 74) and Exit 209, since these match numbers further east, they also need to cover Exit 210 and Exit 212, since these will be repeats as well. Here's one of the exit signs along the Bypass...

This exit number will be changed to something around 186. For a complete list of current numbers and probable future ones, see my I-74 Exit List.

Lastly, here's a photo of the only triplex eastbound on ramp sign displays in Laurinburg...

Does adding US 501 to the mix make it more or less confusing?

Additional I-73/74 Notes: I returned up US 220 and the I-73/74 corridor. A stretch of the substandard I-73/74 highway north of Candor is signed as a work zone with signs every 1/2 mile warning of 'Low/Soft Shoulder" on both sides of the northbound roadway. The only thing I can think this can be is the widening of the shoulders to Interstate standards. However, according to the latest state TIP this project is supposed to be a couple of years off. Did they get money to do it early, or is NCDOT going overboard in warning of future construction?

Speaking of construction, progress is proceeding on the 2 Visitor's Centers/ Rest Areas near the Randolph/Montgomery county line. The freeway is only 1 lane in each direction around the construction zone. The future northbound rest area can be seen in the distance in the photo below...

Some of the photos above and others will be featured in updated I-74 Segment 15 and Segment 16 pages in the near future.

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1

Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge - Maine

Spanning over the Ossipee River on the border between Porter in Oxford County, Maine and Parsonsfield in York County, Maine is the 152 foot long Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge. The Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge is built in a Paddleford truss design, which is commonly found among covered bridges in the New England states. The covered bridge is the third bridge located at this site, with the first two bridges built in 1800 and 1808. However, there seems to be some dispute for when the covered bridge was built. There is a plaque on the bridge that states that the bridge may have been built in 1876, but in my research, I have found that this bridge may have been built in 1859 instead. That may check out since a number of covered bridges in northern New England were built or replaced around 1859 after a really icy winter. The year that the Porter-Parsonsfield Covered Bridge was built was not the only controversy surrounding its construction. There was a dispute over building and maintain

US Route 299 and modern California State Route 299

US Route 299 connected US Route 101 near Arcata of Humboldt County east across the northern mountain ranges of California to US Route 395 in Alturas of Modoc County. US Route 299 was the longest child route of US Route 99 and is the only major east/west highway across the northern counties of California. US Route 299 was conceptualized as the earliest iteration of what is known as the Winnemucca-to-the-Sea Highway. The legacy of US Route 299 lives on today in the form of the 307 mile long California State Route 299. Featured as the cover of this blog is the interchange of US Route 101 and US Route 299 north of Arcata which was completed as a segment of the Burns Freeway during 1956. Part 1; the history of US Route 299 and California State Route 299 The development of the State Highways which comprised US Route 299 ("US 299") and later California State Route 299 ("CA 299") began with 1903 Legislative Chapter 366 which defined the general corridor of the Trinit

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