Gribblenation

Last Sunday Adam Prince, Chris Allen, and myself took an extended road trip taking in the Future I-73 Corridor from southern VA to Greensboro, Future I-74 SE of High Point and I-73/I-74 south of Randleman to Ellerbe. I will post some comments and photos from the I-74 and I-73/74 around Asheboro portions of our trip and will post the rest of the information on a revised, and revived, version of my I-73/I-74 pages to appear in the near future on Gribblenation.com. 1. I-74 Construction between Cedar Square Rd and US 220-- As most of you know, construction on the last piece of I-74 to be built along the 'US 311 Bypass' is set to be completed in October. Observations taken from the road trip suggest this may now be an optimistic date. Work has moved along at the northern section of the construction area. The roadbed is paved south from Cedar Square Rd to at least a mile south. This was the case when I visited the area last October. Things aren't as complete further s...

A TV station has a website article and video confirming earlier newspaper reports that NCDOT expects the section of I-74/US 311 between Business 85 in High Point and Cedar Square Road in Randolph County to be open by Thanksgiving. Click on the Blog title to access the URL. Hmm, guess NCDOT wants me to return to NC to drive the new freeway when it's open. Maybe, stay tuned.

NCDOT's Construction Progress Report produced a new estimate of completion for the I-74/US 311 freeway between Business 85 and Cedar Square Road on September 20, about 10 days earlier than usual. The report indicated the project was 94.2% complete. Assuming, even with the rainy weather, that this completion percentage was approaching 95% by the first Sunday in October, I took, what I hoped would be, a final trip to the corridor to confirm progress on building the freeway hoping it appeared almost completed (and hopefully to be opened before November, more on that later). What I found was most of the work on the road itself had been completed, with a few exceptions, all that's left to do is some final landscaping, placing covers on the remaining open median water drains, the placement of signs, both overhead and at ground level, and the putting down of lane markings (much of which had been preliminarily marked along the roadway). Here's a summary heading west to east or nort...

If you click the title you will be taken to an article written a few days ago (August 26) about efforts to redevelop Main Street through downtown High Point. The main point of the article is that when the street is no longer designated as US 311 Business, the city and local development groups can take control of the road and move ahead on efforts to revitalize the corridor. Most of the efforts currently involve slowing traffic down through reducing speed limits, possibly narrowing the road from 4 lanes to 2 with wider sidewalks and medians, plus other traffic calming measures which all believe will help stimulate the local economy. The story is based on one big assumption though, that NCDOT hasn't given back Main Street to local control. But, in fact it has. Last November NCDOT submitted an application to remove the US 311 Business designation from Main Street to AASHTO's US Route Numbering committee. They approved the application. According to the NCDOT application, upon AASHT...

I traveled Sunday 8/29 to view the latest progress on the I-74/US 311 Freeway between Business 85 in High Point and US 220 in Randleman, plus check up on the new construction project along 220 in Asheboro. During the visit from Cedar Square Road south I followed along with Bill Travers, a local resident who has been helping me keep up to date on area construction projects. Part 1 will describe progress on Phase 1 of the project from Business 85 to Spencer Road, while Part 2 will describe progress and new locations to view Phase 2 to US 220 and remark about changes in plans for this part of highway since the Design-Build section was let. Part 1 - Business 85 to Spencer Road A. Baker Road As seen in the photo below, the last grading of the temporary road has been completed, the ground now needs seeding and wet weather for something to grow on it: The views to the south and north actually look less complete than last month due to landscaping work covering up the completed asphalt roadway....