Oh no, having taken that drive up the Eastern Shore a number of times, I’d hate to see that turned into an interstate. I think the locals would, too. But the connection from here through Liz City to Norfolk is needed.
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The bridge over Delaware Bay has been killed numerous times since the 70’s. It’d be huge for northeast to southeast travel but it’s probably never going to happen.
It would be huge for Atlantic and Cape May counties in NJ but I don’t know if anyone in Delaware would be interested. I assume that’s the side that’s killed it in the past?
The Eastern Shore is going to be in trouble in 20-50 years, sad to say. I’ve talked to several farmers up that way and they are basically thrilled and terrified that they don’t have salt intrusion problems in the soil yet. They all hear the clock ticking but like everyone else in most of the world right now it’s a case of, well, we can keep doing what we’re doing, so we’re going to. I love the area but can’t imagine anyone at any level signing off on a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure investment there. Same goes for Cape May.
I seem to remember there was some talk that once the whole 540 is completed (won’t be till the 2030’s for the part been 264/I-87 and I-40, the SE quadrant), that there was an idea for the whole thing to be NC540 instead of i-540 + nc-540
Would still love some drone pics someday of what’s going on down there on the south side of Wake!
Regarding gateways, town of Cary has doe a really good job with public art at their gateways. Would be nice for Raleigh to step up their game in some visible plots of land. nicer when it has a city name on it like the 1st link, but anything eyecatching that’s not a sun/time/celltower piece would be a welcome signature gateway piece for raleigh.
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Did Cary actually do those art installs or were they privately provided? I always presumed that the black and stainless one was done by SAS.
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Maybe there should be signs, like Welcome to Downtown.
That one is called the Gateway of Excellence by James Russell and it was donated by the Cary Visual Art in 1999. CVA
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I’ve had the same thoughts that someday in far far future Raleigh would be connected to Canada via I87 in NY on the same route you show on the map. Maybe even extend along route close to US64 and NC49 to Charlotte and maybe on to Atlanta to take load off I40/I85. I really really drought I will live to see such an interstate. Think would be more likely, and logical, to see High Speed Rail from NY to Atlanta first.
I also find it strange that there is I87 in NC and NY. Are 89,83 taken? Know 81 and 85 are in use.
EDIT - did a quick search and found I83 is in PA and 89 in New England areas as short interstates.
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The Charlotte to Raleigh zig zag route we have to do pisses me off every time I make the drive. As interstate happy NC seems to have been, how was 64 / 49 not upgraded. I know there’s been some corridor studies and 64 from 1 to Pitsboro will be upgraded eventually but a direct route to Charlotte could be huge in Central NC future development wise.
Also good luck ever getting Georgia government to spend big money on infrastructure.
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chuckles I use to drive 64/49 as a shortcut to Greenville SC area back in 70’s and 80’s before got congested and stopped lighted to death.
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wouldnt have made sense to upgrade 64/49 instead of 40’s route since 40 connects all the smaller (yet decent size) cities between Raleigh and Charlotte. Durham, Chapel Hill, Burlington, Greensboro, High Point, Lexington, Salisbury, Concord.
All the NCDOT emphasis in the past 20 years for NC interstates have been urban loops like 540, 840 @ Greensboro, 485 Charlotte, and connecting cities via interstate that had nothing but stoplight routes…hence lots of new mileage on 73/74 and trying to get Morehead City on an interstate, and a direct interstate route towards Myrtle Beach.
this shows some, although it’s 2017 so somewhat out of date, so no Gboro loop shown (I think it’s almost finished), and of course rest of 540 isn’t federal so wouldn’t show up.
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I think the only changes not on here are I-885 in Durham. I think as time goes on the glaring need for a better route between Charlotte and Raleigh will become more evident.
Also how in the world did have they not proposed to fill that gap between 73/74 and Charlotte. Hopefully as time goes on we’ll have decent high speed rail options that are better than driving.
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That’s it right there. Take some of the insane money we send on roads, and build out a high speed rail network instead.
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I agree but there’s a huge BUT in that all of our bridges and roadways are nearing the end of their life and will need to be rebuilt probably in the next 20 years
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Roads and anything concrete only last but so long. They are constantly repaving everything already built so it never gets past its useful life.
That’s partly why we’re getting a new RDU runway. The runway on RDU’s west side is nearing the end of its useful life (like in just a couple of years!) so is being replaced with a longer one to the West, and the current runway will end up a taxiway, allowing the terminals to expand. Waiting on the environmental clearance I believe, but they have no choice but to redo the pavement same as interstates.
Re: Charlotte route East to 73-74, they may eventually widen some route towards there and Raleigh but it’s not populous, and have you seen the speed of traffic on 85/40? If I don’t drive 80 I’m getting passed with angry looks. I don’t know how much time you’d really save on a new interstate between Raleigh on 64. And it’s not long enough for high speed rail to save THAT many minutes compared to the convenience of driving your own car. People will do rail for other reasons than saving, say, 40-60 minutes which there’s no way to do.
High speed rail is gonna encounter all the smaller towns wanting HSRail to stop at all those existing Amtrak stations in NC.
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The RTA’s weekly blog post revealed the preliminary results for a study on turning the median-side shoulder of I-40 between Chapel Hill and DTR into bus-priority lanes!
Basically, they found that it’s possible for buses to run on I-40 along the inner shoulder at up to 45mph without widening the highway on the outside. From the slide deck here:
A quick reminder of our current BOSS 'lanes'
For those of y’all who aren’t already aware, GoTriangle runs its 100, 800, CRX, and DRX buses on the outer shoulders of I-40 in what NCDOT call the bus-on-shoulder system (BOSS). BOSS-running buses can conflict with cars entering/exiting the interstate and can only run up to 35mph (and no more than 15mph faster than regular traffic). This TPS concept, though, can let buses run up to 45mph as long as traffic is flowing, and up to 35mph if it’s totally stopped.
Plus, it could be cheaper! Unlike express lanes (which still have to have at least one shoulder), you won’t have to buy new right-of-way with this idea.
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That’s pretty interesting! Much better / safer than the right shoulder they currently have running.
I know they also have express lanes planned for this stretch but I’m sure it’s much further out
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This is really exciting
Anyone who’s ridden a bus on I-40 should be familiar with the bridge over Crabtree Creek between Harrison and Aviation, which is too narrow for any shoulders to speak of, so the bus has to momentarily merge with traffic… They will certainly have to widen that bridge. Looks like they are also looking at installing a hard concrete barrier there rather than the flimsy metal crap they have today. Also a good idea. I wonder if adding that barrier would include lighting.
I hope they cancel the express lanes. That is a multi billion dollar waste of money. Go ahead and freewayfy US70 but beyond that, capacity increases between Raleigh and Durham should be handled with transit.
Make all of I-40 a managed highway with peak-hour tolls if they want to reduce peak congestion on I-40.
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Sounds awesome! Thank you!
Would you happen to be aware of any “standard” width required for this type of road/freeway? It appears were talking about going from a 12’ to an 11’ for the main lanes, if I understand the information correctly. Please and thank you!
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I’m not sure how that stretch of 40 even meets federal standards. lol
But the express lanes will definitely happen - too much “revenue” potential. I feel like 1 lane express lanes are a scam however and even two lanes at times. Some of the Atlanta ones run 90 cents a mile and still run around the same speeds as the mainline. What a waste of billions.
I think US 70 will happen - at the very least from 540 to 885. It gets a little tricky around the shopping center area around Millbrook but other than that it seems pretty straight forward and they have some insanely cool plans for the interchange at Crabtree. I really think upgrading 70 all the way from 440 to Durham could take a lot of pressure off 40.
I have some pipe dream plans for a big C-D system between Durham Fwy and I-540 since those interchanges are so close but I agree with you in that Express Lanes aren’t really needed, they’re just DOT’s new favorite things.
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