NCDOT plans East Wake Highway Improvements

Tired of the morning backups on US 64 West between Zebulon and Wendell in the morning? Or the long queue to get on and off the highway at Smithfield Road? The next decade may see some traffic relief in Eastern Wake County as NCDOT tries to keep up with the steady growth here. Two projects have scored significantly high in regards to statewide mobility as they prepare their 2020-2029 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program listing. Both projects concern the Future Interstate 87/US 64/264 freeway.

The first is the eventual widening to six lanes and upgrading of the US 64/264 Freeway from Rolesville Road (Exit 430) to the 64/264 split in Zebulon (Exit 436). The nearly seven mile project scored the highest of all NCDOT Division 5 (Durham, Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance, Wake and Warren Counties). The anticipated cost is just under $60 million and is programmed to begin in 2026. This project will also most likely extend the Interstate 87 designation to Zebulon.

Also scoring high is improvements to the Smithfield Road (Exit 425) interchange. This project scored fifth highest in the district and would see the diamond interchange converted into what is known as a Diverging Diamond Interchange or DDI. This interchange, which has drivers briefly on the wrong side of the road, has grown in popularity within the state with over one dozen currently in use or planned.

Below is a video from NCDOT that explains how a Diverging Diamond Interchange works.

This project is expected to cost nearly $7.5 million and is also planned for a 2026 construction date.

Please keep in mind that this is currently a preliminary score and construction date. NCDOT is taking public comment on over 2,100 highway projects as they prepare their construction plans for the next decade. The comment period runs from April 30 to June 8th.

Comments

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue. Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue. During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange. This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned. Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains. The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road. This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection. Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

Hot Springs Drive (Tulare County Mountain Road 56)

Hot Springs Drive is an approximately twenty-mile rural highway in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Tulare County. The Hot Springs Drive corridor begins at Old Stage Road at Fountain Springs and extends eastward to Parker Pass Road near California Hot Springs. Hot Springs Drive is carried by Tulare County Mountain Road 56 and acts as an extension of Avenue 56 (Tulare County Route J22). What is now California Hot Springs originated as the Deer Creek Hot Springs Resort in 1882. The resort on Deer Creek was originally served by a Control Road which required traffic alternate at different times of the day. The modern California Hot Springs resort would incorporate in 1905 following an ownership change. The Control Road corridor was replaced by Hot Springs Drive around 1915 which intended to serve increasing amount of automotive traffic to California Hot Springs. Much of the resort would later burn in 1968 but was rebuilt in the 1980s. ...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog