Gribblenation

On January 10, NCDOT released its Draft 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Program (or STIP) to public comment. The document provides a list of funded transportation projects for the state over the next 10 years. The document has both good and bad news for supporters of the many future Interstate routes the state plans to build over the next decade or two. The document lists each project by NCDOT Division, the estimated cost (and funding source) for each, and a timetable for Right-of-Way purchase and project construction. The information is presented in tables such as the one below (this for the I-74 section of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway): This post will summarize what the Draft STIP has revealed for new Interstate projects for the next 10 years. For current project information, feel free to check out my I-73/I-74 in North Carolina and Future North Carolina Interstate sites. The major project to start in 2019 is the US 70 Havelock Bypass, a $221 million ...

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 Interst...

If you live in or drive in Eastern Wake County - you'll be seeing a lot more of sign combinations like this one soon. It seems like yesterday when I blogged about new Future Interstate 495 signs that were going to be installed along US 64 along the Knightdale Bypass and along the way to Rocky Mount.  Well after just three years, Interstate 495 is officially no more .  This week NCDOT crews began to install Interstate 87 shields along the Raleigh Beltline and Knightdale Bypass from Southeast Raleigh to Rolesville Road in Wendell.  The new interstate designation follows Interstate 440 west from I-40 near Garner leaving the Beltline at the Knightdale Bypass and following US 64/264 about another 12 or so miles until the six lane portion of the Knightdale Bypass ends just beyond Business US 64. Eventually, Interstate 87 will continue east along US 64 past Zebulon, Rocky Mount and Tarboro to Williamston where it will head north and northeast along US 17 into Virginia an...

Future I-87 signs are coming to Wake, Franklin and Nash Counties. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials have recently approved North Carolina's application to remove the short-lived Interstate 495 and future I-495 from Raleigh to Rocky Mount.  This administrative move most likely will result in North Carolina signing Interstate 87 and Future I-87 on the entire corridor in the near future. Interstate 495's Future is no longer bright along the I-87 corridor . Approved in 2013, Interstate 495 was first signed in 2014 along US 64 from Interstate 440 in Raleigh to Interstate 540 in Knightdale.  The remaining segment of highway to Rocky Mount was signed as Future Interstate 495.  However, in 2016, North Carolina's congressional legislators were able to get language in the 2015 FAST ACT designating the US 64/US 13/US 17 corridor from Raleigh to Norfolk as an Interstate.  In 2016, the FHWA and AASHTO designated this entire corrid...

 Future Interstate 587 signs are now posted along US 264 in Eastern North Carolina.  The freeway segment of US 264 from Zebulon to Greenville will be designated as Interstate 587 once the entire route is built to interstate standards.   The new signs were first posted on April 12, 2017. 

NCDOT officially announced today that US 64 between Interstate 440 in Raleigh and Interstate 95 in Rocky Mount has been approved by the FHWA to be signed as Interstate 495. The section of US 64 between I-440 (Exit 419) and I-540 (Exit 423) will be signed as Interstate 495.  The remainder of US 64 (and US 264 until Zebulon) from Exit 423 to I-95 (Exit 464) will be signed as Future I-495. No word currently on when either style of the I-495 signs will be posted along US 64.  Nor is there specific plans on when projects to upgrade the US 64 freeway from Rolesville Road (Exit 430) to I-95 will occur. Improvements to inside and outside shoulders on the route east of Exit 430 along with upgrades to the Nashville bypass will be necessary for the full Interstate designation to be signed along the rest of the route.  NCDOT has unfunded plans to widen the US 64/264 freeway from Rolesville Road to the US 264 East split (Exit 436) to six lanes.  It is possible that the In...

Not only was this the first roadtrip of 2010, this was also my first use of twitter on trips. I had been discussing with a few folks the idea of using twitter to post real time information from noteworthy to obscure on roadtrips . We'll see how it goes. If you'd like to follow us on twitter, here's the link . To see the entire trip on flickr (over 100 photos) head here . For the roadtrip , Brian LeBlanc and Joe Babyak joined me and we met up in Kinston to explore areas of Eastern NC. The deciding factor for starting at Kinston was that North Carolina's newest state route, NC 148, was just recently created nearby. And it is indeed signed. NC 148 follows the CF Harvey Parkway from US 258 eastwards to NC 58 north of Kinston . In a nutshell, it's the main road through the Global Transpark . The highway is being extended westward to US 70. Prior to checking out NC 148, we walked around Kinston . It was a cold, blustery day and the tempera...

Yesterday was the first official roadtrip with the new camera. Two weeks ago, I bought a Canon Rebel XSi. I'm enjoying it thoroughly so far! Joe came up from Wilmington for this ride through the Northeastern Part of the state. Route: I-540 - US 64, US 64 Business, US 264A, NC 33, US 17, NC 308, NC 11/42, NC 111, US 264, I-540. For the entire flickr set over 80 photos: Go Here . The first stop was a walk around Bailey, NC which the main part of town sits on the opposite side of the tracks from US 264A. There is a great old abandoned Feed Mill here. Bailey is home to a short NC 581 truck route because of a railroad underpass on NC 581 that is only 8'6" high. Outside of Wilson on US 264A - Was an unbelievable old gas station ' Save On Gas'. The station has most likely been abandoned for years. But fortunately, the old sign and some of the neon tubing is still there. I'd love to see how that sign looked lit up at night. The next stop was the town of Farmville,...