Gribblenation

Pittsboro, like the rest of Chatham County, is growing.  As a result, heavier truck traffic along US 15/501 through Downtown Pittsboro has led local leadership to ask NCDOT to move US 15/501 as the North/South route through downtown.   Instead, US 15/501 will be routed along NC 87 North and west of Downtown Pittsboro to the US 64 Bypass.  At the Bypass, 15/501 will head briefly east on US 64 to pick up 15/501's regular route North towards Chapel Hill and Durham. But this is just temporary.  Just east of Downtown Pittsboro, the Chatham Parkway is being completed.  When that road is finished, US 15/501 will move to the new road and serve as an eastern bypass for North/South traffic around Pittsboro. NC 902 has been truncated slightly to end at NC 87.  There is no change to Business US 64, as that will continue to travel through Downtown Pittsboro along West and East Streets. NCDOT has now signed the changes around Pittsboro.  Tracy Snead, a friend o...

When it comes to the entirety of the Interstate Highway System, Interstate 99, when fully completed, is nothing more than 161 miles of a roughly 48,000-mile system (0.3% of total length).  Yet, to more than just a handful of people, the number '99' rubs them the wrong way. Interstate 99 follows the path of two US Highway Routes - US 220 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford north to Interstate 80 and then to US 15/Interstate 180 in Williamsport.  It then follows US 15 from Williamsport north to Interstate 86 in Corning, New York. Interstate 99 runs with US 220 through much of Central Pennsylvania. (Doug Kerr) US 220 from Cumberland, Maryland to Interstate 80 and US 15 north of Williamsport were designated part of the Appalachian Highway System in 1965.  Construction to upgrade both corridors progressed steadily but slowly.  In 1991, the two corridors were included as a National High Priority Corridor.  The route from Cumberland to Corning consisted of High P...

For Throwback Thursday this week, we go back to April 2005 to US 15 in Painted Post, New York (this section of road is now part of I-99 as well). At the time, there was a sign for the Gang Mills exit where a NY 417 shield with a white background was affixed to the sign. I believe that it had to do with a maintenance swap that took place a few years prior. The sign is now long gone, replaced with something not quite unique.

Downtown Dillwyn, VA along US 15 Dillwyn is a small town located in Central Virginia along the James Madison Highway .  This Buckingham County town of around 450 residents sits just north of the intersection of Virginia Route 20 and US 15.  Dillwyn is not far from the physical geographic center of Virginia which is about eight miles west of town in Mount Rush. The former Buckingham Farm Supply store. Dillwyn is home to the Buckingham Branch Railroad .  The rail is Virginia's largest short-line railway company operating nearly 275 miles within the Commonwealth.  The rail line began in 1989 when the Bryant family purchased 17 miles of a branch line from Dillwyn north to Bremo Bluff from CSX.  The company grew in 2004 and 2009 when it entered leasing agreements with CSX and Norfolk Southern respectively. The Buckingham Branch does offer seasonal excursion trains out of Dillwyn in the Spring and Fall.  In addition, during December they offer a t...

US 15 - James Madison Highway - just outside of Clarksville. History of the James Madison Highway: The James Madison Highway (US 15) is named in honor of the fourth President of the United States.  JamesMadison was born and raised in Albemarle County.  Madison is considered the "Father of the Constitution" and served as President from 1809-1817.  The highway was designated in his honor by an act of the Virginia State Assembly on March 19, 1928.   Today, much of the James Madison Highway follows US 15.  Over 80 percent of the highway wanders along two lane roads through Virginia's Piedmont.  The James Madison Highway runs solely through Virginia, ending at both the Maryland, north of Leesburg,  and North Carolina, south of Clarksville, state lines.  History of US 15 in Virginia: US 15 would first appear in the Commonwealth in 1927.  It would enter the state from North Carolina as it does today, south of Clarksville; however a...

Earlier this month, I head up north with Joe Babyak and met up with Doug Kerr to explore New England.  It was a great trip and the weather somewhat cooperated (more on that in the days to come).  The first part of the trip was going from Raleigh, NC to Schenectady, NY. Our Route: US 64, I-95, I-495, I-270, US 15, PA 581, I-81, US 22/322, US 11/15, US 15, I-86, NY 13, NY 79, NY 206, I-288, NY 7, NY 337 into Schenectady. We took this route so I could pick up a few more counties...and I did pick up one in PA (Tioga) and two in New York (Schyler and Tompkins).  It was also the first time I took US 11/15 through the central part of the state north of Harrisburg.  And I really enjoyed the drive.  The US 15 freeway (Future Interstate 99) north of Williamsport is very impressive and may be the most scenic freeway in Pennsylvania.  Photos from this leg of the trip can be found here . Our first real stop wasn't until just south of Ithaca, NY.  Just off o...

While running errands today, I took my camera with me out to Durham County to get photos of a set of older signs.  One sign has been known for sometime, the other I just discovered in the last month. First, a number of years ago, NCDOT widened and improved Interstate 85 in Durham.  As part of that all of the signage was upgraded.  Well it looks like there was at least one exception - this older Junction I-85, US 15, and US 70 combination still stands on NC 55. I had found that combination by happenstance a few weeks ago. Also, on NC 147, the Durham Freeway, it is well known that what is most likely the only metric sign in North Carolina stands. NCDOT is in the process of upgrading a lot of the signage on the Durham Freeway, and I wanted to make sure I grabbed a shot of it in case the sign finds the chopping block this go around. So I guess you can still find a few sign treats in North Carolina - if you look hard enough.