User:Djamaliyev64/Interstate 42

A multi-county project, also known as the "US 70 Corridor" or "Super 70", is a collection of several projects along US 70 to improve passenger and freight movement eventually leading to the establishment of Interstate 42, which is the US Department of Transportation's High Priority Corridor #82. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), signed by then President Barack Obama on December 14, 2015, added the US 70 corridor between Garner and Morehead City to the Interstate system as a future Interstate. Justification for the designation included better connections with Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the North Carolina Global Transpark, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and the Port of Morehead City with the rest of state and the eastern seaboard. With no specified number codified in the act, the Regional Transportation Alliance (RTA) expected this corridor to be called I-46 or another suitable designation, and the US Highway 70 Corridor Commission recommended I-50. On March 30, 2016, Governor Pat McCrory and various officials unveiled "Future Interstate" signage along the corridor.

For the Spring 2016 AASHTO Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering, NCDOT proposed I-36 for this route since there were no other routes with that number in the state. However, on May 24, 2016, AASHTO assigned Interstate 42 for the route. The entire project has a budgeted cost (as of late 2018) of about $1.3 billion, and about 29 miles still without a budget. Some projects like the Clayton and Goldsboro bypasses are completed, while others have yet to be scheduled. The project involves the counties of Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, Jones, Craven, and Carteret.

In October 2021, AASHTO approved two segments of I-42, the 10 mi Clayton Bypass and the 21.7 mi Goldsboro Bypass; this was followed by the Federal Highway Administration subsequent approval in March 2022. In May 2022, AASHTO also approved the elimination of US 70 Bypass, clearing the way for NCDOT to fully redesignate the route. Signage for the route was expected to be put up later in 2022, but this has not happened yet. In July 2023, NCDOT announced that they were proposing to renumber NC 42 to NC 36 (which was the number originally suggested for the new interstate before 42 was chosen) between NC 50 and U.S. Route 70 Business (US 70 Bus) in Clayton in order to avoid confusing motorist when the Clayton bypass is designated as I-42. Once I-42 is signed onto the Clayton Bypass, US 70 will be rerouted onto its old routing through Clayton, which is currently designated as US 70 Bus. NCDOT requested public input on this proposal at an open house on October 12, 2023. US 70 has also been upgraded to interstate highway standards between Dover and New Bern, but this cannot be signed as I-42 until the Kinston Bypass is completed as this segment is not connected to the Interstate highway system. I-42 is expected to be completed in its entirety by 2032 and will include the installation of broadband fiber along the entire route.

Wilson's Mills improvements
A 5 mi section of US 70 at Wilson's Mills, connecting to the Clayton Bypass in the west will be upgraded to a freeway for an estimated $31 million. The plan calls for US 70 to be carried on a bridge over Wilson Mills Road while a bridge will carry Swift Creek Road over US 70. Interchanges will be made at both roads and a connector road paralleling US 70 between the two roads will also be built. Construction was planned to begin in 2020 and finish around 2022. However, COVID-19 funding issues postponed the awarding of the construction contract from September 2020 to March 2021. Construction officially began on May 12, 2021, and expected to be completed by the middle of Fall 2024.

Smithfield/Selma improvements
Improvements are in the planning stages for the 13.8 mi segment of US 70 between Wilson's Mills and Princeton. Some of this section is already a freeway but will require improvements to bring it up to interstate standards and add an interchange with I-95. Adding the interchange will require shifting I-95 2,000 ft east to incorporate the new changes. I-95 is also being widening in this area. This proposed project is still in the study phase and not currently budgeted nor does it have a timeline for completion.

Princeton bypass to Goldsboro Bypass
The existing Princeton bypass eastward to the Goldsboro Bypass will be improved to interstate standards, which is estimated to cost $170 million. The 6.7 mi project for the upgrade of US 70 will be done in two parts: the first will be in the Princeton area between US 70A to North Pearl Street/Edwards Roads (construction is scheduled to start in 2025) with second part starting there and ending at the Goldsboro Bypass (construction is scheduled to start in 2028). Currently, project funding has been suspended by NCDOT due to agency's budget issues. The agency is currently working with state legislators to find alternative sources of revenue.

Kinston bypass
The Kinston Bypass is a project that has been in the planning stages since the 1990s. The project was put on hold until 2007 when NCDOT revitalized the project. While several northern bypasses were planned, in January 2014, the northern bypasses were removed in favor of a southern alternative, but the project was defunded in 2014 with the release of the 2015–2024 State Transportation Improvement Plan, and studies were suspended. In June 2022, NCDOT announced that they had chosen Alternative 1SB for the Kinston Bypass.This alternative would be approximately 21 mi of a four-lane, median divided freeway accessible via ramps at 10 interchanges. Part of the project will also build service roads along the freeway as well as approximately 6.5 mi of new roadway that will be south of the current US 70 alignment in the Kinston area. When complete, the bypass would improve regional mobility, connectivity, and capacity for US 70, reducing traffic congestion and delays that exist along US 70 between La Grange and Dover. The westernmost section, which is approximately 2.8 mi and includes the interchange at Jim Sutton Road/Willie Measley Road, was included in NCDOT 2018-2027 State Transportation Improvement, which allowed preliminary engineering activities to resume. The four remaining sections east of this section were reinserted into 2024-2033 STIP Projects Map. However, as of 2023, no funding has been set aside for the project, which is expected to cost $716.2 million. Additionally, the easternmost interchange between US 70/Future I-42 and Caswell Station Road/Wyse Fork Road east of Kinston currently faces local opposition due to it impacting part of the land where the Battle of Wyse Fork was fought on.

James City freeway
In James City, a 5.1 mi segment of the US 70 improvement project will upgrade the existing highway to freeway standards by elevating it over existing surface streets as a six-lane, median divided freeway, improving the frontage roads, removing 49 businesses and 17 homes, converting the five intersections along this segment to interchanges with all but one of them being dogbones (the other will be a parclo), and eliminating a railroad crossing just south of exit 417. The project, which is projected to cost $66 million, will connect to the existing US 70 freeway in New Bern. Construction was scheduled to begin in early 2020 and be complete in early 2024. However, the design-build project did not start until January 2021 and its completion was delayed by a year to the end of 2024. Construction on the project finally began in Spring 2022 and as of February 2023, the project is about $1/3$ completed. However, its completion has been delayed again, this time to middle of 2025.

James City to Havelock
Between James City and Havelock, a 6.4 mi section of US 70 will be converted to interstate standards. The final cost of the project is estimated to be $275.161 million with $147 million coming from a federal grant the state received in 2018. This segment will be a four-lane, median divided freeway accessible via ramps at three interchanges. With the release of the 2020 draft STIP, it was revealed that NCDOT was attempting to start construction in 2020, but this was delayed several times due to design and funding issues before a $242.35 million design-build contract for construction was finally awarded to Balfour Beatty in February 2023. Right-of-way acquisition will begin in Fall 2023 with construction beginning in Spring 2024. Completion is set for Summer 2028.

Havelock bypass
The Havelock Bypass is a planned 10.1 mi four-lane freeway intended to improve existing sections of US 70 and a bypass west of Havelock, through the Croatan National Forest. The routing through Havelock would become US 70 Bus. Draft and environmental studies began in September 2011 and were completed in January 2016. Property acquisition started in 2016, with construction expected to begin in February 2019 and be completed in 2022 at an estimated cost of $173 million. However, construction did not officially begin until August 2019 and it is now expected to be completed in May 2024. According to Balfour Beatty, the project includes the construction of 15 bridges, which will require around 4.43 million cubic meters of borrow material and 288,000 tonnes of asphalt.

Havelock Bypass to Morehead City
I-42 is currently set to terminate just beyond the Newport River Bridge at Radio Island Road on Radio Island. The bridge will be reconfigured from two-lanes to four-lanes, but there are currently no funded projects to upgrade US 70 to Interstate highway standards between the Havelock Bypass and the bridge. The ECC (Eastern Carolina Council) noted that I-42 would likely be built on a new alignment to bypass Morehead City to the north before curving back south onto US 70 to connect to the port at Morehead City.