I drove around Greensboro today (7/26) to take photos of the signs along I-40 and the Loop that have been updated since my last visit a month ago. The good news is that most, but not all, have been revised to reflect the new route number alignments. First of all, they've removed the Business I-85 and Business I-40 mile markers along the original I-40 and put back I-40 mileposts, such as this:
Also all the US 421 signage west of the Business 85 split has been removed from the roadside, though one still exists in an overhead sign:
They have also revised the exit numbers going west on I-40 for the Loop exits:
The Loop south sign has also been revised to drop the I-40 designation, though no effort has been made to include I-73 in the northbound Loop exit for now. Here's the southbound loop signage at the ramp:
There is room for a second control city, Asheboro is listed in signs at the I-85 interchange, why not here? The sign changes going east on I-40 approaching the Loop are more dramatic:
Traffic to Raleigh is directed along I-40. Since the exit mentions I-85, maybe the addition of High Point or Charlotte could be added here. The signs at the split look like this now:
Following I-73 South, all the exit numbers for Wendover Avenue now read correctly:
Though they still haven't changed the overhead 1/2 mile before the exit:
The ground mounted route signage has changed, however:
The only addition to signage on the rest of the Loop is an End(!) I-73 South sign at the ramp to US 220 (I did not notice any Begin I-73 North signage going the other way):
Signage along US 220 North, Future I-73 has been changed too. Here are how the two exits at the Loop are now signed:
Notice, there is no 'To East I-40" for Exit 78A. This may be because NCDOT hopes traffic is directed to I-40 at the Business 85 Exit.
Though the I-85 for Exit 79 is technically wrong, NCDOT apparently thinks it's important to keep for people looking to access I-85 south. (They could help by putting a south over the I-85 shield). The signage along Business 85 south has also been updated to reflect the I-40 re-routing:
There still are some unfinished projects remaining. All the shield signs along the I-85 section of the Loop still read I-40/85, and the shield signs on I-40 east of US 29 still say Business 40/85. There is the sign at Wendover as indicated above along with the remaining exit number switch for the exit after the Loop on I-40 east, they still list the the Business 85 and former I-85 exit numbers. Hopefully these will all be done by the end of July, as promised by NCDOT.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJn3DEfohUD_KWkXpW1hMd2iWEIHKrFSDk5-BBW3LAs68UP4k_vYbYyLiWx8JOxPqDW-zBtKf8bzZTOwATN55dVD__-7IOsHX-qWU5cgriOEOPt6ZybrmmY4MJWk5LgW2Y8ID/s400/i40mm223709a.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyPqRfd4mSSX8LOUMQfxdcK3EAppjmCTrj6xTp0-o4auuysISTXqX2M4xWFNZgST92Keo0kGbGgt6I3A6z_ajg8SmUKhXM56OX3X6cDZ_dh3XlVQUyCizUefLDedz2mqjidDR/s400/i40signgr709.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3eFEuc9dAKyXUMvZdomueG4iQW88GKQbO0FqEsXE35psPYEBOt8vRkFc0MKpVR8mpPrJ4PLJMHaEVYklyQOS90-pX3WJFMIrPLS05iKQtqY1qZ8H_jvqIjMGpjhnAhBDe0I1/s400/i73421gl709a.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidaQGdpywjVPSwuP4VOjjELY7bNiwDHGXZmDq_wV-9NwRpq-UU0I8AunvHp7OWz6kdAWj393qdeaYF6XSpLLxvE9hFHcXLc0yqBD6SXZXbdGRgrDkyjlWf9tOkr0Kq-tOTUi_J/s400/i73421gl709b.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGA_5uM2Y4wwHIFhu9dYe-I_J2SFAMRecXxkRbU08KxeSczP_RlaIkwFv2lHOFABq0d0y7hRWtAK0MRR8bwsNvfRbBzVgmGKreuETLAIFxdT1JA0z5ZKt46qKq-l3mI8MzOR9i/s400/i73421gl709c.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGdSPELpjBvghllJrGXaRhUhKM2qbk281-343S51jy_53-hB729DV44LTgBEuUNoCjOcu1V6B6pxSMqBAVbMyjmgN1V5649bjB-m7cDwmuR7zwArCTp50oCofxOO4hcp5zYp_/s400/i73421gl709d.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxqFaVH4OD1HUcQWUFpzZwpvHcTUajokdXXY2glwUiiRnu-SqpqqgmVI2p7cMvTfPRRsyz38rt643G_0sQZrBJgLb5y9c9RnzeCEEWLHqAzKWU7Dae19ZEDU66ECLsKVNN73D/s400/i73421wa709a.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxhZ0p2JPAgBY67sEr7ZL_0NzPiRv97ZtS6ulZbNwBmu73l9HrzedG_yBTUmzi1Pkcj1v6pZodQybGonjfafXKYjzYBbiBKRFvPhwxTyluYJOCI-TQot-ouCKeJLNZgGLqkBD/s400/i73421wa709b.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6uh66Fd3Ui1ZFm6LzQJeuynyi1LJjoRgOdd3gxQXfmSLke8uMtEMhsNImg0p9FRrc1ftLZqJa-wj5nSwHlkqq3mfqNAK4fgiIDVMc8QR6ACGlHYBwodQ7uRy07iLI-UX6eg5/s400/i73421sign1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy2oEregod4dnyoPJG0XbaTZHb5oLTlMgZVYtrfb4bmXGmxUNak7Q_WtlcRPAprR4euLbJGABFvqNinjZyRNwy5TDdS0mI4wZObsgNvAac8Gn0X2cNCBvS1KH34iG9IiQU9yWx/s400/endi73s1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw0XVGqhTNA92F-Ow-iwaUXkvcjO4o6nsvoYorR7LjmCKwdsUHT7TQ5B4FtauSrU8fUsJp7w4cgeCA-vKTkzeMs9f7zDb0jq2MiQ6xm1AJn6qdwiSTBq_N29RC8dAcVRwsj2x/s400/i73ex78708b.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBELV_f2h29XcgLz-DqN4_w0Qb-BmYpf0vde1Xu1XfQMNQp7E23MguJTxqEb3MQGcfUvRmSTVDITeYFiMyQx_7qp_m3lL8AgPvhvdIDAGq3RC1IBfA1nDj2BsEv6C5f1JA827/s400/i73ex78708c.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMed9oEkQB8w4ah4nbWCeibaV_LmBXIpncCF4m1JHmESf9fey7suYA5jNCWDuH9VvqHA3AT7t0lhyphenhyphenWYu7rRRXqfXXGHFcMXbV_5Ohr73kn6bFADflFOpUY0AnKyePFfj9Yg1C5/s400/bus85i73709a.jpg)
Comments
i often wonder why they don't sign the lower loop AND the upper loop all as i-840....would make a lotta sense, wouldn't it
As for US 421, up until a month ago it ran north through the Loop and up to what was then Business 40/85 then traveled along with Business 40 west then joined I-40 after it left the Loop. The new route (some still existing signs notwithstanding) place 421 North onto the Loop at I-85 Exit 126 and route it west with I-85, then north with I-73 back to I-40 where it meets the Loop west of Greensboro. The old 126B exit for US 421 North now reads just Greensboro.
As for why NCDOT chose the I-840 designation to only run on the northern section of the Loop, with originally I-40 and I-85, and later I-73 to run on the southern portion, the adding of an additional interstate was not deemed necessary. The stated goal of the Loop at that time was to remove non-Greensboro traffic from the old I-40 Death Valley alignment, an additional I-840 designation doesn't add anything for this purpose. If, from the beginning the NCDOT decided I-40 should stay on its old route, and that I-73 would not use the Loop, then maybe having I-840 on the entire Loop, like I-495 in DC, may have made more sense. It makes it easier just to have 840 as an east/west route north of Greensboro, maybe that will change once the entire Loop is completed.
Stephen
http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/i73seg5.html