NCDOT awards US 401 widening contract in Wake County

The Triangle Business Journal reports that NCDOT has awarded a contract to D.H. Griffin Infrastructure LLC of Greensboro to widen 2.3 miles of US 401 in Wake County. The $8.6 million contract will widen US 401 from two lanes to four from Ligon Mill Road to Rolesville Road in the northern part of the county.

The project is one of 34 projects totaling over $107 million awarded by NCDOT on Monday, January 4. The US 401 project is one of thirteen projects in the awards that are being funded by federal stimulus funds.

The project begins at Ligon Mill Road (where the six lane US 401 currently ends and narrows to two lanes) and will extend northward to Rolesville Road. Work on the project may begin as early as this coming February and is slated to be completed before the end of 2011.

NCDOT's plan is to continue the widening of US 401 northwards roughly an additional 20 miles to Louisburg in Franklin County.

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History of the Big Oak Flat Road (Yosemite National Park)

This week I hiked much of what was the original alignment of the Big Oak Flat Road which is located to the north of the modern roadway. Unlike the original alignment of the Wawona Road the Old Big Oak Flat Road is surprisingly intact.

The complete history of the Big Oak Flat Road including the original alignment can be found on a 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Interior on the Old Big Oak Flat Road.

U.S. Department of the Interior on the Old Big Oak Flat Road

The Big Oak Flat Road began construction east from the mining community of Big Oak Flat in towards Yosemite Valley in 1869. The Big Oak Flat Road was constructed by the Chinese Camp and Yosemite Turnpike Company which had secured the franchise rights for a toll road to the Yosemite Grant (the designation prior to Yosemite National Park). By the summer of 1871 the Big Oak Flat Road reached the northern cliffs above Yosemite Valley which is when the Chinese Camp and Yosemite Turnpike Company ran out of funding. After the…

Horseshoe Meadows Road; former California State Route 190 and the legacy of the Lone Pine-Porterville HIgh Sierra Road

This summer I had an opportunity to drive one of the lesser known great roads of California; Horseshoe Meadows Road from Whitney Portal Road westward into Horseshoe Meadows of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Aside from being massive climb into the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains the path of Horseshoe Meadows Road was once part of California State Route 190 and was intended to be part of a Trans-Sierra Highway known as the Lone Pine-Porterville High Sierra Road.

Horseshoe Meadows Road is located west of Lone Pine of Inyo County and is 19.7 miles in length. Horseshoe Meadows Road begins at an approximate elevation of 4,500 feet above sea level at Whitney Portal Road in the Alabama Hills and ends at an elevation of 10,072 feet above sea level in Horseshoe Meadows. Horseshoe Meadows Road is the second highest paved road in California only behind Rock Creek Road near Tom's Place. Pjammcycling rates Horseshoe Meadows Road with an average gradient of 6.2% and lists it as th…

The Tioga Pass Road

Last Summer the Tioga Pass Road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Yosemite National Park opened late due to the heavy snow pack from the previous winter. Approaching the start of July the Park Service finally had cleared the road to Tioga Pass. That being the case I headed up shortly after the 4th of July holiday during a lull in the tourist season.

The Tioga Pass Road runs from the Big Oak Flat Road at Crane Flat east to US Route 395 ("US 395"). The Tioga Pass Road is largely within the boundary of Yosemite National Park but is maintained by Caltrans as California State Route 120 ("CA 120") east of the Tioga Pass entry station to US 395. The National Park Service maintained portion of the Tioga Pass Road serve as a implied connection between the two segments of CA 120. The Tioga Pass Road is the highway mountain pass in California reaching Tioga Pass at 9,945 feet above sea level.

Part 1; the history of the Tioga Pass Road

Tioga Pass first obtained notewort…

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