Gribblenation

The Pavilion Gazebo is the centerpiece of Cape Charles Pier and Boardwalk Once the hub of all of Virginia's Eastern Shore transportation modes, Cape Charles today is a quieter  shadow of its once hustling self adjusting to find a new niche along the Eastern Shore.  Located approximately 11 miles north of the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, Cape Charles was founded in the mid-1880s when a Pennsylvania Congressman by the name of William L. Scott purchased the land for a sum of $55,000.  The reason for the purchase was that the location was to be the southern terminus of the Delmarva branch of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad.  Immediately after tracks were laid ferry service began transporting passengers, freight, and mail to the mainland in Norfolk; but just as importantly, commerce from the urban areas in the North.  To some Cape Charles was a southern expansion of its Northern brethren as the town was a complete opposite of the slee...

The highway bill known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) is passed and signed into law.  The 1,305 page bill has a lot items to it and future impacts to transportation in North Carolina are inside the bill.  This includes the creation of two new Interstate corridors and the extension of another.  As for the numbering of the new corridors, I'll discuss in a later post. High Priority Corridor 81: The first is the creation of High Priority Corridor 81 - this lists as including US 117 and Interstate 795 and runs from US 70 in Goldsboro southwards to Interstate 40 in Faison.  In short, this will extend I-795 from Goldsboro to I-40 in Faison.  North Carolina has had on their agenda for numerous years making a freeway route from I-40 northwards to I-95 in Wilson.  The current Interstate 795 is the north half of this. The southern half consists of US 117.  A number of steps are needed to make this section ...

In October 2014, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory announced that he supported a plan to build an interstate highway from Raleigh to Norfolk .  Basically this would follow US 64 from Raleigh to US 17 in Williamston and follow 17 north into the Tidewater region.  NCDOT last year took somewhat of a first step when they petitioned and was granted the Interstate 495 designation from I-440 in Raleigh to I-95 in Rocky Mount.  This hopeful interstate corridor has been promoted by the Raleigh Regional Transportation Alliance for sometime as "Interstate 44 ". But this isn't the first North Carolina to Norfolk interstate proposal.  Researching a long time ago on another item, I came across an article from the Wilmington Star-News that dates back to 1964.  Titled, " Sanford Backs New Road Plan ," the story talks about then Governor Terry Sanford's endorsement of an interstate corridor from Norfolk to Interstate 95 in Fayetteville.  This corridor which pretty muc...

After Saturday's trip into Southside Virginia - and all of the great pre-Interstate businesses we found, active and abandoned - I started to think about the Old US 66 trip I did last spring.  There are plenty of sites (motor courts, restaurants, neon signs, small towns) and situations (bypassed by the interstate, abandoned businesses, empty two and sometimes four lane roads) similar to that of the revered "Mother Road". So I have come up with five routes along with reasons for and against being the East Coast version of Route 66. US 1: The Backbone US Route of the East Coast - Travels through major cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.  Parallels Interstates 85 and 95 for significant portions of the route.  However, runs as an independent route from Henderson, NC to Jacksonville, FL. US 301: Bypassed and pretty much ignored by long distanced travelers by Interstate 95 from Richmond/Petersburg, VA to south of Florence, SC....