Future
in
NC
Interstate 42 is
a 137 mile planned interstate route from I-40 south of Raleigh to
Morehead City mostly along existing US 70. AASHTO gave approval to the
number in May 2016, though originally NCDOT asked that the route be
designated I-36, after the corridor was granted interstate status under
the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Highway Act. The
first two segments of I-42, the Clayton and Goldsboro Bypasses, should
be signed in 2022. Here's the corridor map as submitted in its AASHTO
application:1
This page will
summarize the progress in building and signing the route from west to
east. While two segments will receive I-42 signage in 2022, the
projected completion date for the entire route is 2032.2 I've
broken the route into 8 segments with a description of the progress of
constructing I-42 in each. As of May 2022, 2 Segments are Complete:
Segment 1 (Updated 6/23/22)
US 70 Clayton
Bypass
Road Type:
Interstate Standard Freeway Length:
10.0 Miles
Status: Complete
[Except for I-42 Signage]
This segment could be signed as I-42 today as it is Interstate standard.
NCDOT got approval from AASHTO at its Fall 2021 meeting for it to be
signed as I-42 from I-40 to US 70 Business, conditioned on FHWA approval.
The FHWA granted its approval in March 2022. According to a press release
by NCDOT a timeline for the signing of I-42 is to be released later in
2022.3 NCDOT announced on June 23, 2022 that the ramp from US
70 to I-40 East would permanently close on July 6 as part of the NC 540
Extension 'Turbine Interchange' project. Unknown if this will effect the
timeline of signing the Bypass as I-42. Photos from this segment are in
the Photos section below.
Drive
this Segment watching two New Videos from RoadwayWiz from Summer
2021: Eastbound
Westbound
Segment 2 (Updated 5/8/22)
US 70 from End of
Clayton Bypass to Beginning of US 70 Goldsboro Bypass (includes Bypass
US 70 in Smithfield)
Road Type: 4-lane
Divided Roadway with some Freeway Sections Length:
22.5 Miles
Status: Needs
Upgrade to Interstate Status
There are two funded projects and one feasibility study underway to
upgrade this section of US 70:
The first will upgrade 5 miles of US 70 to Interstate Standards from US
70 Business to the Neuse River Bridge (W-5600) , NCDOT will replace the
current US 70 intersections with Wilson Mills Road and Swift Creek Road
with interchanges starting in the spring of 2021. Originally the plan was
to award the contract in September 2020, however, due to COVID funding
issues, the contract letting was postponed until March 2021 but work
started on May 12. As of April 15, 2022 the project is more than 1/4 done,
at 26.9% complete.4 The plan is to have US 70 be carried on a
bridge over Wilson Mills Road while a bridge will carry Swift Creek Road
over US 70. A connector road paralleling US 70 between the two roads will
also be built. The total cost for the Wilson Mills interchanges is
estimated at $77 million and the project is to be completed by the middle
of March 2025.5
Here's a map of the project area:6
NCDOT advertised the W-5600 contract on January 16, 2021. Among the sign
plans included those for the new exit signs for Swift Creek and Wilson
Mills Road, along with the new signs for the Business 70 exit westbound:7
The second project will upgrade US 70 to Interstate Standards in
Princeton Area (R-5829AB) from US 70A to Goldsboro Bypass Design Build
Projects. Project A to start in 2025, Project B in 2028.*
Here's a map of the project area:8
A Feasibility Study (FS-1604A) was published in August 2018 for
determining how to upgrade the remaining section between the Neuse River
Bridge and Smithfield. It split the segment into 4 sections and compared
the cost of simply upgrading shoulders to a complete upgrade to interstate
standards of the existing route. The upgrade option was the preferred
alternative, though they suggested maybe simply upgrading shoulders could
get the route signed as I-42 for Sections 1 and 2, that is from the end of
the Clayton Bypass to Creech's Mill Road in Smithfield (includes I-95
interchange) . Here's a Link
to the Report. Construction Date TBD. Here's a map of the study
area:9
There are also several pavement upgrade projects for US 70 in Johnston
County which may be part of I-42, depending on what final alignment is
chosen, including a project C204333 (TIP No. I-6044) that will, as part of
the project, reconstruct US 70 Bypass and other portions of US 70. Here is
a map of the project area and 2 of the 4 work zones, work started in
August 2019 and was scheduled to be completed in October 2020, the project
no longer appeared on NCDOT's Construction Progress Report website as of
November 2020:10
Here's the
typical section plan showing shoulders varying from 2 to 10 feet.
Rumble strips will also be added to Bypass 70 section, the only
section that is currently a freeway:11
Segment 3 (Updated 3/16/22)
US 70 Goldsboro
Bypass and US 70 to NC 903 in LaGrange
Road Type:
Interstate Standard Freeway Length: 21.6 Miles
Status: Complete
[Except for I-42 Signage, expected in 2022]
According to Jim Dunlop, a NCDOT sign engineer, an application was sent
to AASHTO in the fall of 2021 regarding signing the Goldsboro Bypass as
I-42.12 On February 13, 2022 the applications were finally
posted on the AASHTO Special Committee on US Route Numbering website.13
The application for the Goldsboro Bypass was approved, along with the
Clayton Bypass (Segment 1), pending approval also by the FHWA. Despite a
Super 70 Commission Director reporting in his January/February 2019
message that the FHWA has approved signing the Goldsboro Bypass as I-42,14
NCDOT engineer Dunlop indicated they had not done so as of the
summer of 2021. It was announced again by the Super 70/I-42 Group at a
meeting on March 16, 2022. This time NCDOT issued a press release
indicating the approval of both the Goldsboro and Clayton Bypasses as
I-42.1 The press release indicated a timetable for the
placement of I-42 signs would be released later in the year. There are no
current projects listed at either the state or division level related to
I-42 signage. There was some conjecture that NCDOT would apply to AASHTO
at their Fall 2019 meeting to decommission Bypass US 70 on the Goldsboro
Bypass and ask that it be replaced by I-42, however that didn't happen. A
future request would reduce the amount of sign changes that would be
needed.
Segment 4 (Updated 6/23/22)
Existing US 70
from NC 903 in LaGrange to the to be built Kinston 'Shallow' Bypass and
along an upgraded US 70 to Dover
Road Type:
Upgrade to Interstate Freeway (part to be built on new location)
Length: 21.1 Miles
Status:
Construction was to start in 2020 (US 70 Freeway) and 2027 (Bypass),
however due to COVID-19 related budget shortfalls, the projects now do
not have an official start date, most likely not until after 2029.
New-In June 2022
NCDOT posted a press release indicating a new website had been created
to provide a '3D view' of the Kinston Bypass, though the construction
date has yet to be announced (see below). You can use the website to
take a Virtual
Tour of the Bypass.
In April 2018, NCDOT announced 12 possible alternative routes for the
Kinston Bypass Project (R-2553) that will run from the end of the US 70
Goldsboro Bypass near LaGrange to the beginning of the US 70 freeway in
Dover. Here was a map of the possible alternatives:15
NCDOT held a public hearing in Kinston on August 31, 2019 allowing the
public to weigh in on the possible routings. Many Lenoir County businesses
and officials supported the 'Shallow Bypass' or Alternative 1SB which
would have the Bypass follow existing US 70 for 14.6 of the 21.1 miles in
this segment, the remainder would be on a new 6.5 mile bypass close to the
existing US 70 and its businesses. NCDOT selected this as the Preferred
Alternative in 2020.
Here's a map of the chosen alternative:
The pre-COVID timeline for the project was for right-of-way acquisition
to start in 2023, presuming the environmental impact statement was
approved in 2021. Construction would then have started in 2027. This has
now been changed, the Final EIS is to be released in the winter of 2022,
right-of-way acquisition now will start in 2026 with the construction date
still to be determined. The western section of the bypass follows current
U.S. 70 for approximately 7 miles to just east of NC 148 (CF Harvey
Parkway). Interchanges would be located at Willie Measley/Jim Sutton
roads, Albert Sugg/Barwick Station roads, and NC 148. A new
interchange east of NC 148 would provide access to the new shallow bypass
section, which would be parallel existing U.S. 70 to the south for
approximately 6.5 miles. Interchanges along the Bypass would be located at
NC 11/NC 55, US 258 (South Queen Street), and at NC 58 (Trenton Highway).
A new interchange east of Lenoir Community College would connect the
shallow bypass back to existing U.S. 70. The bypass would then follow
existing U.S. 70 to the end of the project near Dover, upgrading US 70 to
a freeway with interchanges at Wyse Fork /Caswell Station Roads and Old
U.S. 70 (West Kornegay Street) in Dover.16 Meanwhile, a
project that will resurface and upgrade 3.1 miles of the existing US 70
freeway to Interstate Standards from the Bear Creek Bridge at the end of
the Goldsboro Bypass to Willie Measley Road east of LaGrange (Project
I-6034) was to be let in September 2019, but in July 2019 that was pushed
back to March 2020, the project then disappeared from the March 2020
Letting list in February, also a COVID related postponement.
Segment 5 (Updated 8/2/21)
US 70 Freeway
from Dover to New Bern
Road Type:
Freeway Length: 26.1 Miles
Status: Needed
Upgrade to Interstate Status, Complete of as March 2021 [Except for I-42
Signage]
NCDOT awarded a contract in the Spring of 2019 to repave and widen US 70
to interstate standards along the existing freeway between Dover and the
Neuse River Bridge in New Bern. Work was completed in the spring of 2021.
July 2020 Google Maps Street View images show that all of the US 70
shoulder work has been completed, work is now proceeding on upgrading exit
and entrance ramps, the last to be completed were in the New Bern area.
Here's a map of the project location:17
Signing of the section as I-42 cannot occur until the Kinston Bypass and
related construction to the east are completed.
See the
completion of shoulder widening in Photos section below.
Segment 6 (Updated 6/23/22)
US 70 Neuse
River Bridge to Havelock Bypass
Road Type:
4-lane Divided Roadway Length: 13.7 Miles
Status: Needs
Upgrade/New Construction to Interstate Freeway
A 2-Part Project: First is from Neuse River Bridge to Thurman Road,
(U-5713/R-5777AB, 5.1 Miles). Start of Construction-2019 Completion
estimated in December 2023 (Design/Build Project was awarded in September
2019 and work started on October 22.18 As of May 22, 2022,
more than two and a half years later, work is now more than 1/5 complete
at 21.6%.19 Part of contract that is creating interchange at
Thurman Road already under construction along with another interchange
with Glen Burnie Road.)
Map of Project Corridor:20
Second is Thurman Road to Havelock Bypass (R-5777C, 8.6 Miles)
including construction of service roads. The Letting date for the contract
was delayed in February 2020 from June to November 2020 due to design
issues and was then put on hold due to funding issues. According to the
new 12-month STIP project listing posted in July 2022, the project will be
let as a Design-Build contract on January 17, 2023, delayed from August
16, 2022. This probably means start of construction may begin in later in
2023.21
There was also a project to create the Slocum Gate Interchange at
Cherry Point MCAS - Completed in March 2020.
Segment 7 (Updated 6/23/22)
US 70 Havelock
Bypass
Road Type:
Unbuilt Freeway Length: 10.1 Miles
Status:
Construction Started on August 30, 2019. Project to be completed in May
2024.
NCDOT Project Map:23
On August 1, 2019, NCDOT awarded the $167.2 million contract to build
the Bypass to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. of Wilmington, NC. Work
started on August 30 and as of May 22, 2022 work was nearly 1/2 complete
at 47.2%. The current completion date is May 13, 2024.24
Segment 8
US 70 from end
of Havelock Bypass to Morehead City
Road Type:
Mostly 4-lane divided Length: Approx. 11
Miles
Status: Need
Upgrade to Interstate Freeway
One project, rebuilding the Newport River Bridge from a 2-lane to 4-lane
structure is to start in 2022. Map showing location:25
Remaining projects between the Havelock Bypass and the bridge are not
funded. Some doubt I-42 will make it to the bridge due to the difficulty
in constructing an interstate through an urban area.
Photos
Link to Photos taken along the I-42 Corridor by AARoads Forum Member Cowboy
Wilhelm in May 2022.
Segment 1
(Taken of Future
I-42 signs in March 2017)
Begin I-42 sign
at the start of the East US 70 Clayton Bypass.
The End Future
I-42 sign is after the (Entering) Wake County sign at the western end of
the US 70 Clayton Bypass.
Will this cause
any confusion? The first exit on Future I-42/US 70 East is for NC 42 in
Clayton.
Segment 2
Taken at the
Wilson Mills Road intersection by David Johnson on April 17, 2022:
Bridge being
constructed as seen from US 70 West.
Google Maps
Street View images taken in September and October 2021:
Heading west
toward Wilson Mills Road on US 70, clearing for future interchange
underway.
The section
between Wilson Mills Road and Swift Creek Road has been repaved,
shoulder are not interstate standard yet, but clearing to the right of
the shoulder would allow for quick further widening in the future.
The current
intersection between US 70 West and Swift Creek Road, little
construction can be seen at the other future interchange site.
Segment 3
Here are some
Google Maps Street View images traveling west along the US 70 Bypass
taken in the summer and fall of 2021:
A Future I-42
sign near the start of the Bypass.
The 1 Mile
advance sign for the Parktown Road exit, will the exit numbers be
changed when I-42 is signed?
The 1/2 Mile
advance sign for the US 13 exit, notice Street View already has this
part of the Bypass listed as I-42.
The gore sign for
the US 13 exit off of the Bypass.
The 1 Mile
advance sign for the Wayne Memorial Drive exit.
A combination
green auxiliary and blue Hospital Services sign for the Wayne Memorial
Drive exit, still on "I-42."
The 1 Mile
advance sign for the US 117 exit, behind a Mile 357.5 marker that will
be changed when it becomes I-42.
A
post-interchange distance sign prior to the US 117 exit, showing the
near 20 mile distance US 70 will have to be upgraded between the end of
the Goldsboro Bypass and I-95.
The overhead sign
for the US 117 exit shares its cantilever support with the 1 mile
advance for I-795.
The overhead exit
sign for the I-795 North exit, the first ramp of the soon meeting
between 2 interstates.
The ground
mounted exit sign for the I-795 South exit, eventually that interstate
to end at I-40.
The 1 Mile
advance sign for the NC 581 exit.
The future
temporary end of I-42 West at the merge with US 70 West at the end of
the Goldsboro Bypass. Heading east...
The 1/2 Mile
advance sign for the US 70 East exit at the start of the Future I-42
Goldsboro Bypass.
Segment 5
(Taken by Adam
Prince in July 2021)
One of the
several Future I-42 signs placed along US 70 at county lines, here
crossing into Craven County, to the right of the now interstate standard
right shoulder headed east.
View of
Interstate standard shoulders now completed along US 70 in Craven
County.
Exit sign for NC
41 near Cove City, next to now interstate standard right shoulder,
currently no exit number.
The sign for the
next exit for SR 1224, besides the interstate standard right shoulder.
The sign for
Craven Community College exit, also still without exit number.
The 3/4 mile
advance for what will be the last exit sign without a number, Business
70, the blank space for US 17 South.
The exit sign for
the Clarks Road exit, with exit number, next to the widened right
shoulder of Future I-42 East.
The overhead exit
sign for the NC 43 exit on US 17 North/US 70 East approaching New Bern.
Overhead signage
for the East Front Street exit on US 17 North/US 70 East over the water
in New Bern.
Exit signage for
US 17, on its way north to eventually becoming part of Future I-87 and
NC 55 East, notice that all the exit numbers in the New Bern area
currently overlap those listed for the Havelock Bypass (see sign plans
below), hopefully this will be corrected before that highway opens.
Want to
contribute photos for this site? Feel free to email me at rmalme7374 at
gmail.com.
Sign Plans
Exit sign plans
for Havelock Bypass (unknown why numbers nearly duplicate existing
numbers near New Bern):22
Here's an I-42 Shirt advertised on the Internet (no endorsement):
Notes
*Project funding
has been suspended by NCDOT due to agency's budget issues. NCDOT is
working with state legislature to find alternative sources of revenue.
It is unknown when, or if, construction will be started on this project.
3. NCDOT. 2022. "Interstate 42 Coming to Eastern N.C. Corridor." Press
Release. March 16. Downloaded from:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2022/2022-03-16-i-42-coming-us-70-corridor.aspx,
March 16.
4. NCDOT. 2022. Construction Progress Report, Contract C204359, TIP No.
W-5600. Information as of February 22. Downloaded from:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/traffictravel/progloc/ProgLocSearch.aspx, March 2.
7. NCDOT. 2021. Signing Plans, Part 2. Contract C204359. January 16.
Downloaded from:
https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/dsplan/2021%20Highway%20Letting/03-16-21/Plans%20and%20Proposals/Johnston%20C204359/Standard%20PDF%20Files/,
Jan. 23, 2021.
12. Dunlop, Jim. 2021. Posting on AARoads Forum, Southeast Region,
October 8. Downloaded from:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19189.425, October 9.
13. AASHTO. 2022. Special Committee on US Route Numbering, 2021 Fall
Meeting Final Report, p. 3/5. Downloaded from:
https://route.transportation.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2022/02/Final-Report-USRN-Application-Results-Fall-2021.pdf,
Feb. 14, 2022.
17. NCDOT. 2019. Five Miles of Craven County Highway to be Upgraded.
Press Release. September 25. Downloaded from:
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-09-25-craven-county-highway-upgrade-contract.aspx,
September 27.
18. NCDOT. 2022. Construction Progress Report, Contract No. C 204225,
TIP Nos. R-5777A, R-5777B, U-5713. Information as of November 22.
Downloaded from:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/traffictravel/progloc/ProgLocSearch.aspx, March 2.
21. NCDOT. 2022. 12 Month Let List, August 2022-July 2023, p. 47.
Downloaded from:
https://connect.ncdot.gov/letting/12%20Month%20Tentative%20Letting%20Library/12%20MONTH%20LET%20LIST%20(AUGUST%202022%20-%20JULY%202023).pdf,
Aug. 4, 2022.
23. NCDOT. 2022. Construction Project Report, Contract No. C 204177, TIP
No. R-1015. Information as of November 16. Downloaded from:
https://apps.ncdot.gov/traffictravel/progloc/ProgLocSearch.aspx, March 2.
25. Plans from: Signing Plan, Craven and Carteret Counties, Location: US
70 Havelock Bypass from South of Carteret/Craven County Line to South of
SR 1176 (Carolina Pines Blvd.), NCDOT TIP R-1015, November 20, 2018.
Available at:
https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/dsplan/2019%20Highway%20Letting/02-19-19/Plans%20and%20Proposals/Craven_R-1015_C204177/Standard%20PDF%20Files/250%20Signing%20Plans.pdf
Site created:
July 10, 2019
Site Updated: May
8, 2022
(c) Robert H.
Malme 2022
Future NC Interstates