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)

Image
By
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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more