Terry Sanford's 1964 North Carolina Interstate 13 Proposal

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 much followed US 17 to Williamston and US 13 from Bethel to Fayetteville was proposed by NC State Senator Robert L. Humber of Pitt County. Humber stated that it would be named Interstate 13. The article continues to state that the Division of Highways chairman, Merrill Evans said that he had not endorsed any proposal for a north-south interstate in Eastern North Carolina.

It appears that this one article documented both the birth and death of the Interstate 13 idea in North Carolina.

So was this a good idea, the route basically would have given a direct link from Norfolk to Interstate 95. This possibly could have resulted in larger port in Norfolk and having a negative impact on both of North Carolina's ports in Morehead City and Wilmington. Militarily, it would have linked the numerous military installments around the Hampton Roads Area to Fort Bragg.

Also, would this be a good idea today? Feel free to comment below

Comments

WashuOtaku said…

This is similar to the defunct I-99 that was proposed along the US 17 corridor from South Carolina to Maryland. It's a nice idea, but not needed.

4:00 PM

Anonymous said…

I like the idea of extending the route through Raleigh and down the US 1 freeway, then southwest towards Charlotte. Maybe even continue west to Asheville from there.

10:17 PM

Anonymous said…

Why is there no interstate from Wilmington to Charlotte (to Asheville)??

This seems inexplicable to me.

4:42 PM

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield. Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away. In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south. Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center. Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat. The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area. In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the s...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and temporary Hawaii Route 11

The 1959 Gousha Road map of Hawaii features two largely unknown references in the form of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11. Both corridors are shown running from the boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park east to Glenwood via Volcano Village. At the time Hawaii Route 11 was using the so-called "Volcano Road" which was constructed as a modernization of Mamalahoa Highway during 1927-1928. This blog will examine the two map references and will attempt to determine what they might indicate. The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11 Hawaii Route 11 is part of Mamalahoa Highway (the Hawaii Belt Road) and is the longest Hawaiian State Route at 121.97 miles. The highway begins at the mutual junction of Hawaii Route 19 and Hawaii Route 190 in Kailua-Kona. From Kailua-Kona the routing of Hawaii Route 11 crosses the volcanic landscapes of southern side of the Big Island. Hawaii Route 11 terminates at Hawaii Route 19/Ka...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog