Skip to main content

Could it be true..I-485 to finally open in two week (aka The News 14 Carolina Story I could have been on)

We've been waiting for oh...over a year and a half now ...but there's light at the end of the I-485 Construction Tunnel! Yes, the infamous, Charlotte construction project is almost done and ready for traffic. I-485 from NC 16 to I-77/NC 115 in Huntersville might open by the end of this month!

Yes, I said that the next segment of I-485 (NC 16 to I-77/NC 115 in Huntersville) could possibly open by the end of the month.

I was so shocked I had to type it twice...just to believe it.

The contractor has a target date of opening of Halloween (October 31st) for completion of the often delayed, often bungled 5.5 miles of highway.

Of course if it decides to rain a bit over the next few weeks...that could be pushed back. (Not like we haven't seen that before.)

News Stories:
I-485 closer to completion ---News 14 Carolina (Includes video)
Another stretch of I-485 close to completion ---Charlotte Observer

Commentary:
Well, RickMastFan67 picked November 1st. So if it opens the 31st or the 1st, he'll win a prize.

All I can say it's about time, there have been so many issues with building this highway...it was hard to keep track of (amazingly the last six months went along quietly...amazingly and thankfully that is).

This is big piece of the I-485 as this now offers traffic from I-77 North of Charlotte (Statesville, Huntersville, Davidson) a quicker option and bypass to get to I-85 South (or west of Charlotte) to places like Gastonia, the Upstate of South Carolina, and Atlanta. It will make a huge local and long-distance traffic shift after it opens.

Oh, I'm visiting friends in Charlotte the weekend of November 14th...so as long as the road is open...I'll get photos of the new highway at that time.

As for the other part of the title, I received an e-mail yesterday morning from the News 14 Carolina reporter, Shannon Paluso, asking to possibly interview me about the project specifically all of the delays in construction and the funding issues that have pushed finishing the entire loop back a number of years. Unfortuanately, I didn't get to the e-mail last night...and of course I live in Raleigh...which is about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive from that part of Mecklenburg County. Oh well, it's still nice to be considered for inclusion as part of the story.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w