User:Ncchild/Interstate 440 in North Carolina

Interstate 440 (abbreviated I-440) in North Carolina, also known as the Raleigh Beltline and the Cliff Benson Beltline, is a 16.4-mile (26.4-km) partial beltway that nearly encircles central Raleigh. Prior to August 2002, it was a complete loop and shared a concurrency with its parent, Interstate 40 along the loop's southern segment (Tom Bradshaw Freeway). I-440 was labeled with "Inner" and "Outer" lanes, making it one of the few Interstate Highways in the United States not primarily labeled with compass directions (e.g. east/west). It has now been truncated to avoid confusion, especially with the I-540 "Outer Loop" and has been relabeled with an east–west orientation.

Route description
Interstate 440 begins at an interchange between I-40/US 1/US 64 at I-40's exit 293, just east of Cary. The freeway runs northeasterly through a mix of small forests, and small businesses along adjacent roads. About a half a mile to the east, the freeway has a interchange with Jones Franklin Road. The road then angles slightly further northward passing through the Athens Drive neighborhood and west of Athens Drive High School. A partial interchange for the westbound lanes provides access to Debby Street and Melbourne Road as the freeway continues to cut through a residential area. As I-440 approaches its cloverleaf interchange with Western Boulevard, it begins a turn toward the north. The highway runs to the west of portions of North Carolina State University and cuts through the middle of ES King Village. After crossing a railroad tracked owned by ---, I-440 has an XXX interchange with NC 54 (Hillsbourgh Street). Slightly turning to the north, the freeway cuts between the western edge of Meredith College and NC State's Western Campus.



Nearby points of interest PNC Arena via Wade Avenue (exit 4) Carter-Finley Stadium via Wade Avenue (exit 4) North Carolina State Fairgrounds via NC 54/Hillsborough Street (exit 3) Meredith College via NC 54/Hillsborough Street (exit 3) North Carolina State University via Western Boulevard (exit 2A) Crabtree Valley Mall via US 70/NC 50/Glenwood Avenue (exit 7) North Hills via Six Forks Road (exit 8B) The Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek via Poole Road (exit 15)

Volume and capacity
Between US1-64 (Exit 1A) and Wade Ave. (Exit 4) west of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has four travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual daily traffic volume varies between 78,000 vpd and 90,000 vpd on this section.

Between Wade Ave. (Exit 4) and Capital Blvd. (Exit 11) north of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has between six and eight travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual traffic volume varies between 112,000 vpd and 138,000 vpd on this section.

Between Capital Blvd (Exit 11) and I-40 (Exit 16) east of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has between six and eight travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual traffic volume varies between 88,000 vpd and 108,000 vpd on this section.

History
Parts of what is now called the Beltline have been around since the early 1960s, but the name was not in use until the 1980s. The four-lane northern section of the Raleigh Beltline was built first, a 3.5 mi section opening between Wade Avenue and Walnut Street in 1960. The road was named the Cliff Benson Beltline to honor a developer and highway commissioner who played a major role in getting the road built. It was not built to interstate highway standards. The six-lane southern section, part of Interstate 40, came later and was designated the Tom Bradshaw Freeway, for the Raleigh mayor and state transportation secretary who helped get that road built. Before the addition of the southern leg, downtown had major traffic problems.

Different parts of the Beltline had different numbers. Originally, it served as the Raleigh bypass for US 1 and US 64. It was signed as US 1/64 from where those two highways merge in Apex, to Capital Blvd. (then known as North Blvd.), from where US 1 continued north. The portion between North Blvd. and New Bern Ave. was signed as US 64. Later, the northern section included sections designated U.S. 1, U.S. 64, U.S. 70 and N.C. 50. Due to the different ways each of the four highways joine the beltline and moved on, in some points the highway had at least three of the cardinal directions (North, South, East and West) all in the same place, only adding to the confusion.

Different parts of the Beltline had different numbers, and people got lost easily. The northern section included sections designated US 1, US 64, US 70 and NC 50.

In 1991, state highway administrator William G. Marley Jr. asked the Federal Highway Administration to call the Raleigh Beltline Interstate 440.

That same year, much of the four-lane older section was about to be widened in a seven-year-long $53 million project which also included upgrading the road to interstate standards. US 70 and NC 50 were rerouted through Raleigh, which caused concerns about too much traffic on city streets.

In Summer 1991, work began on widening 3.6 miles of the Beltline from Glen Eden Road to Wake Forest Road to eight lanes, including the rebuilding of the 30-year-old Glenwood Avenue bridge.

Early in 1993, work began on widening 4.4 miles from near Wake Forest Road to beyond New Bern Avenue to six lanes.

On July 8, 1994, the state awarded the contract for widening 1.7 miles to six lanes, from Wade Avenue to Glen Eden Road. At that time, completion of the project's second phase was expected by June 1995, and phase three by 1996. Two more miles between New Bern Avenue and Poole Road would be widened starting in 1996. Plans called for widening 3.2 miles from Wade Avenue to I-40 several years later but even after several delays, the 2006-2012 N.C. Transportation Improvement Program did not include funding for the $77.3 million upgrade.

Truncation and removal of Inner/Outer labels
When signs for I-440 went up in 1996, instead of east and west, "inner" was used to designate clockwise and "outer" was used to designate counterclockwise. In 2002, the North Carolina Department of Transportation decided to replace the inner/outer labeling with an east–west orientation and remove I-440 along its concurrency with I-40. This decision was primarily made to prevent confusion with the I-540 Outer Loop around Wake County. Lack of funding to make the change delayed the project until 2008. The FHWA route log has been updated to show the shortened distance. By 2009 many, but not all, signs reflecting the old routing and designation had been removed or updated. Signs were being changed as they were replaced; new signs placed on US 1 did not show I-440 on the southern segment and show I-440 with east/west compass directions.

Former Raleigh Interstate 40 Business
Interstate 40 Business (I-40 Bus) was an unsigned designation of the northern part of the Raleigh beltline, while the southern part remained Interstate 40. In 1991, AASHTO eliminated I-40 Bus in favor of I-440 designation for the entire Raleigh beltline.

Future
A 3.5 mi stretch of Interstate 440, from Walnut Street to Wade Avenue, is to be redesigned and widened to six-lanes. Completed in 1960, it is the oldest section of the Raleigh beltline; it features the original four-lanes with narrow (or no) shoulders, substandard interchanges, and a merging left lane on-ramp. Currently in development, NCDOT has estimated the cost at $92 million, with right-of-way acquisition to start in 2016 and construction in 2018.

As part of project Fortify the NCDOT are doing construction on the section of I-440 from US 64/US 264 to Interstate 40. The are working on new ramps for the I-40 interchange and replacing the old asphalt which has been crumbling due to a chemical reaction.

Exit list
Exits are numbered by mile marker, beginning at Exit 1 in the southwest and continuing east. With the truncation of I-440 and assignment of east/west direction, exits are now numbered west to east.