Skip to main content

US 117, Where Art Thou?

The once, current, and future northern end of US 117 at US 301?

Since Adam introduced me by saying I had yet to post, I thought this would be as good time as any. Many of you may have seen my recent post on SERoads regarding AASHTO's decision on US 117 between Wilson and Goldsboro. For those that haven't, or cannot access the AASHTO decisions since they used some new Microsoft coding only good on Internet Explorer, I thought I'd summarize it here.

This is the text of AASHTO's denial:

Disapproved were:
North Carolina U.S. 17 ā€“ disapproved see next remarks
North Carolina U.S. 17 ALT ā€“ disapproved since the Alternate must be as good as or better than the primary route and suggest NC designate this as a business route.
North Carolina U.S. 117 ā€“ disapproved see next remarks
North Carolina U.S. 117 ALT ā€“ disapproved since the map was incomplete as it did not show where 117 came back at the north end. Alternate must be as good as or better than the primary route and suggest NC designate this as a business route.

The web page to access the posts is here: http://cms.transportation.org/?siteid=68&pageid=1540

So, as of now US 117 is signed on a route that isn't officially US 117 but Alternate US 117 (NCDOT hasn't changed a lot of the signs so most still say US 117). Meanwhile, according to AASHTO, US 117 runs on a route that it isn't signed on, except for a few BGSs, since NCDOT went and removed all the ground US 117 signs from the freeway (US 117 mileposts and exit numbers remain) and on-ramps last December and January.

Commentary: It appears that there is enough blame to go around for this ruling. In recent years NCDOT has sent in many applications to AASHTO which that organization thought were incomplete or did not follow proper procedures. I believe this is one of the reasons why the US 117 (and US 17) applications may have simply been rejected out of hand once they did not meet the standard AASHTO policy regarding moving US routes. Of course, if NCDOT had spoken to someone at AASHTO about there application beforehand, maybe this rule would have come up and a negotiation could have taken place. NCDOT could have indicated that in regard to US 117 that they were only moving a route back to its original alignment that it had been on for, what, 75+ years?, that they didn't know at the time they asked it moved to the freeway that the route would be designated I-795, and that it might be more helpful to the traveling public that the freeway have only the interstate designation. AASHTO could have contacted NCDOT about why they were confused about the map with the US 117A application (I surmise this map only showed US 117 alternate going to US 301 or to US 264, not connecting back to AASHTO's official routing of US 117 on the freeway, so they did not see a proper northern end point for the route) and resolved that problem. And, of course, NCDOT could have waited for the AASHTO ruling, like there supposed to do, before removing all the US 117 signage.


I do not know what NCDOT will do, AASHTO has no powers to force them to put the US 117 signs back, but ignoring a ruling might cause more problems with later NCDOT applications. I have a feeling some sort of compromise will be reached. If not, NCDOT could simply as to decommission US 117 since it is about 110 miles long and does not meet AASHTO's current US Route standards. Given NCDOT's recent problems, the last thing they need to see is another news story about how they wasted more money removing signs that they had to put back.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hawaii Route 8930

Hawaii Route 8930 is a 2.5-mile State Highway on the Island of O'hau.  Hawaii Route 8930 is aligned over Kualakai Parkway over the course of its entire alignment south from Interstate H-1 to Kapolei Parkway.  Hawaii Route 8930 is one of the newest Hawaii Routes only having been completed during 2010.   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 8930 The history of Hawaii Route 8930 is brief given it is a modern facility.  Hawaii Route 8930 and what was known as "North-South Road" were built to facilitate the developing areas of Kapolei on western O'ahu.  According to hawaiihighways.com the first stage of Hawaii Route 8930 was completed from Kapolei Parkway north to Farrington Highway as a four-lane highway during November...

Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

Madera County Road 607 is an approximately seven-mile rural unsurfaced highway which spans from Road 600 near Raymond west to Road 29.   Road 607 west from Raymond Road Cemetery (established in 1905) is part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road corridor surveyed in 1853. The corridor lies in the gap between Fresno Crossing at the Fresno River west to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River. The Buchanan Copper Mine would be along what is now Road 607 in the namesake Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity at Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The last businesses in the community would shutter during World War II and it is now a true ghost town. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road What is now Road 607 was a component of the larger Sto...

Paper Highways; Interstate H-4 through downtown Honolulu

The Hawaiian Island of O'ahu is home to four Interstate Highways; H-1, H-2, H-3 and H-201.  Had history gone slightly differently during the 1960s a fifth Interstate corridor on O'ahu could have been constructed through downtown Honolulu and the neighborhood of Waikiki.  The proposed corridor of Interstate H-4 can be seen above as it was presented by the Hawaii Department of Transportation during October 1968 .   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html The history of proposed Interstate H-4 The corridor of Interstate H-4 was conceived as largely following what is now Hawaii Route 92 on Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard.   Prior to the Statehood the first signed highways within Hawaii Territory came into existence during World War II.    Dur...