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If local officials and the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) get their way, a 57-mile stretch of U.S. 74 and Interstate 140 from Whiteville to Market Street in Porters Neck will be designated as a future stretch of I-74.
“I think it clarifies our intention for it to be an interstate sometime in the future,” said Karen Collette, DOT division engineer for the region that includes Southeastern North Carolina. “It gives us a start.”
The idea has the support of the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which assists the DOT with identifying local transportation priorities.
The designation would apply for U.S. 74 from Whiteville to I-140, which is scheduled to open Dec. 15, then I-140 from its intersection with U.S. 74 to its intersection with U.S. 17 northeast of Wilmington.
Officials have noted that there currently exists no quick, easy route from Wilmington, the state’s eighth-largest city, to Charlotte, the state’s largest. During a breakfast forum recently at the University of North Carolina Wilmington focused on transportation, DOT board member Danny McComas -- a Wilmington resident and former New Hanover County state representative -- noted that the most direct route from Wilmington to Charlotte “has about 200 stop lights.”
“Anything we can do to open up that corridor to make it travel-friendlier would be a benefit,” said New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, who serves on the MPO board. “I think it’s going to be a darn good thing. To get that designated as an interstate would do wonders for commerce.”
“I think it makes sense. I think it would be great to connect our beaches to folks inland,” said Brunswick County Commissioners Chairman Frank Williams, who also serves on the MPO board. “It would also connect Route 74 to Interstate 140, which makes sense. It would just make it more well-connected through here to get people and freight in and out.”
The state for years has been looking at upgrading U.S. 74 to make it an interstate. Transportation officials have long noted that many state highways, including portions of U.S. 74, in all ways resemble an interstate highway, including at least two lanes on each direction of travel, a median and dedicated exits. They are just missing the blue shield designating them as an interstate.
An interstate-quality road connecting the 278 miles from Asheville to Wilmington is something the DOT has said is a needed project. Parts of the route have already been upgraded to interstate standards and designated so by the federal government, but some haven’t. For example, I-74 from Lumberton to Rockingham is a federal interstate. U.S. 74 connecting I-26 to Shelby isn’t an interstate, but is a freeway.
Some sections of U.S. 74 east of I-95 have been upgraded to interstate standards, but aren’t marked as such. Closer to Wilmington, there are currently no plans on the books to upgrade the stretch of U.S. 74 between Acme-Delco in Columbus County and Leland to interstate standards. I-140 intersects U.S. 74 just west of Leland.
Mike Kozlosky, executive director of the Wilmington MPO, said the next step, following the MPO board’s approval of the request, is to ask the DOT to consider the designation.
Collette said businesses often want to be within a short distance of interstates, and that the designation provides them assurance that a major transportation corridor is nearby.
“It certainly is helpful for economic development,” she said. “A blue shield is certainly a draw.”
How would replacing a suicide lane with a divided median, thus eliminating non-signalized left turns, make the road more deadly?
Its not...I'm saying its worse now with the increased development and traffic. The removal would help. Increasing to 6 lanes is actually the right way to go because you combine 2 lanes at Third St with 1 lane at Front St...this section is actually a bottle neck. Those six lanes could end at Shipyard. But the State is too cheap to buy the ROW necessary to do it right. .
Its not...I'm saying its worse now with the increased development and traffic. The removal would help. Increasing to 6 lanes is actually the right way to go because you combine 2 lanes at Third St with 1 lane at Front St...this section is actually a bottle neck. Those six lanes could end at Shipyard. But the State is too cheap to buy the ROW necessary to do it right. .
Ok, the way I read your post was that the removal of the middle lane would make the road more dangerous. I see now you were referencing the middle lane itself.
State transportation officials will hold a public meeting on Monday, Nov.13, for the widening of U.S. 421 (South Front Street) to four lanes from the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge to Burnett Boulevard in Wilmington.
The public can view a map displaying the location and design of the project on the NCDOT website.
The meeting will take place from 5 to 7 p.m., at Sunset Park Elementary School, at 613 Alabama Ave. Interested residents may attend at any time during the meeting, as no formal presentation will be made. NCDOT representatives will be available to provide information and answer questions. The meeting also will offer the opportunity to provide written comments.
If someone is unable to attend the meeting, they can still provide comments on the proposal through Dec. 13, 2017. For additional information, contact NCDOT Design Engineer Brian Harding at bjharding@ncdot.gov; (910) 341-2000 or at 5501 Barbados Blvd., Castle Hayne, N.C., 28429.
The N.C. Department of Transportation will continue upgrading U.S. 74 in Robeson County to interstate standards with the construction of another interchange.
The department has recently awarded a $7.5 million contract to C.M. Lindsay & Sons Inc. of Lumberton to convert the highway’s intersection at Broadridge Road into an interchange with a bridge and ramps. The project will improve the safety of the intersection.
The contract also includes making the U.S. 74 intersection at Creek Road, which is about 1.5 miles south of Broadridge Road, into what is called a directional crossover. The design improves safety by directing motorists on Creek Road into turning right onto the highway.
The department is upgrading U.S. 74 across several counties with new interchanges and other improvements.
The contractor can begin work after Nov. 27, and has about two years to complete the project.
This is one of six road and bridge contracts recently awarded by the department. They were worth about $38.8 million, which was about $1.2 million under engineer estimates.
Cost: $211 million to construct link between U.S. 74-76 and U.S. 421
Opening date: Dec. 15, 2017
The details: The Interstate 140 Wilmington Bypass project, which will allow travelers to drive around Wilmington, has been in the works for several years. The project was divided into three sections early on. About 15 miles of bypass linking Porters Neck to U.S. 421 along northern New Hanover County opened in 2006 and the southern section of the bypass between U.S. 74-76 and U.S. 17 in Brunswick County opened in 2014. The N.C. Department of Transportation has continued to work on the final leg of the bypass in Brunswick County. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure is working on the remaining bypass portion from Cedar Hill Road to U.S. 421 where the bypass currently ends in New Hanover County, which includes a large bridge being built over the Cape Fear River. Barnhill Contracting is working on the remaining portion of the bypass from U.S. 74-76 to Cedar Hill Road.
The progress: The bypass was originally scheduled to open in November 2017, but delays pushed the opening date to the end of the year. Now, the DOT plans for the bypass to be open to traffic on Dec. 15. Work is expected to continue on Mt. Misery and Cedar Hill roads until spring 2018, though the Mt. Misery Road overpass, part of the larger bypass project, opened to traffic June 10.
There's a renewed push to have I-74 go to Wilmington.
If that ever comes to fruition, they would have to modify the the US-74/I-140 interchange with some flyover ramps and a better freeway to freeway connection, but I guess in the grand scheme of things that is one of the "easier" things to get done as compared to upgrading the rest of US-74.
If that ever comes to fruition, they would have to modify the the US-74/I-140 interchange with some flyover ramps and a better freeway to freeway connection, but I guess in the grand scheme of things that is one of the "easier" things to get done as compared to upgrading the rest of US-74.
The rest of US-74 shouldn't be difficult to upgrade. US-74 is already a freeway east of the I-140 interchange until the Cape Fear River bridge (US-17 Business) near downtown Wilmington. Honestly, I'd prefer I-74 to end there rather than follow I-140 and it wouldn't require modifying the I-140 interchange.
The new US-701/NC-87 interchange in Elizabethtown is opening this week. I passed through there last month on my way to visit my cousin in Clarkton and I figured it would be opening soon.
A new interchange at N.C. 87 and U.S. 701 in Bladen County is expected to open this week, weather permitting.
The project near Elizabethtown replaces a traffic signal with an overpass and ramps that improve safety and traffic flow. A portion of the new interchange recently opened, but contract crews plan to fully open it either by Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 21, or Wednesday, Nov. 22.
While the new roadway will have temporary lane markings, the contractor will add permanent striping after Thanksgiving and wrap up the project before Christmas.
Drivers should watch for flaggers during the opening and proceed cautiously.
A realigned N.C. 242 that intersects U.S. 701 near the new interchange is now in use.
The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded a $13.2 million contract to Barnhill Contracting Co. of Rocky Mount to build the interchange.
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