User:Roadsguy/Durham Freeway


 * This is a WIP draft of a repurposed Durham Freeway article. See discussion here.

The Durham Freeway is a 12.7 mi freeway located entirely within Durham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It connects Research Triangle Park (RTP) in the south to the city of Durham in the north. The southern half from Interstate 40 (I-40) to the Interstate 885 (I-885) and North Carolina Highway 147 (NC 147) interchange on Durham's southeastern city limits is part of the former, while the segment north of the interchange to Interstate 85 (I-85) is the latter.

Prior to June 30, 2022, the entirety of the Durham Freeway was part of NC 147. However, upon the completion of the East End Connector project, which constructed a short, brand new freeway connector between the Durham Freeway in the southwest, and U.S Route 70 (US 70) in the northeast, NC 147 was truncated to just the northern half of the Durham Freeway, while the southern half became part of the brand new I-885.

Route description
The Durham Freeway begins as I-885 at an interchange with I-40 and the Triangle Expressway (NC 885) in Research Triangle Park. Running north through the park, three closely-spaced interchanges link the route to East Cornwallis Road, T.W. Alexander Drive, and Ellis Road.

At the Durham city line, NC 147 begins and diverges towards Downtown Durham, which the Durham Freeway follows northwest around downtown Durham and serves as its primary artery. Here, the road turns towards a more southeast-northwest alignment, and narrows considerably, with narrow medians and shoulders, and short entrance and exit ramps, following a depressed road cut to the south of Downtown Durham, passing several major landmarks including the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (visible to the north of the roadway), the Durham Performing Arts Center, and the American Tobacco Historic District. Past Downtown Durham, the freeway passes through Duke University, forming the boundary between East Campus and Central Campus.

Past Duke University, the road reaches its northern terminus in a complex interchange with the U.S. 15-501 Freeway and I-85. Motorists must use U.S. 15-501 for access between I-85 south and NC 147 south or between NC 147 north and I-85 north. At the actual northern terminus, traffic on NC 147 north merges with I-85 south, while I-85 north traffic can enter NC 147 south using exit 172.

The Durham Freeway is a limited-access freeway for its entire length and a fairly urbanized commuter route that suffers from peak traffic during conventional rush hours. Speed limits on the freeway range from 55 mi/h to 70 mi/h. It was originally envisioned as an alignment of I-40, though the interstate was built to the south of the city center instead. The entire freeway received the NC 147 designation in 1986, and the southern half was redesignated as I-885 in 2022.

Dedicated and memorial names
The Durham Freeway features one dedicated stretch of freeway. The Buck Dean Expressway is the official name of the NC 147 half of the freeway that was approved on December 14, 1984.

History
The Durham Freeway began with a 1962 bond referendum. The first section of the road, completed in 1970 around downtown Durham, extended from Chapel Hill Street to Alston Avenue and resulted in the destruction of a portion of the Hayti neighborhood as part of urban renewal, though a DOT engineer said the neighborhood likely would have been torn down anyway. The road was later extended west to Erwin Road and southward to where it meets I-40. In 1986, The freeway was designated as North Carolina Highway 147. The road's other names have included East-West Expressway and the I.L. "Buck" Dean Freeway.

In 1979, planners said many of the city's roads needed widening, and the decision was made to extend the freeway to I-85. The first section in 1982 disrupted the Crest Street neighborhood, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) moved 181 houses instead of tearing them down, an action that resulted in a 1987 third-place Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) award for "historic preservation and cultural enhancement". Eventually, the problems that caused the original I-40 extension to I-85 to be delayed were overcome, and the freeway was extended through the city. Work began in 1993, and the eastbound lanes opened May 21, 1997. The section connecting the road to I-85 opened July 31, 1998.

On September 6, 2011, the south terminus at T.W. Alexander Drive (exit 4) was permanently closed to make way for a southern extension to NC 540 in Morrisville; this made I-40 the temporary southern terminus for three months. On December 8, 2011, the southern extension was opened. Dubbed the Triangle Parkway, the 3.4 mi stretch of road is also part of the Triangle Expressway. Despite the spur to T.W. Alexander Drive being permanently closed, the pavement was never removed, and the abandoned section still sits just south of the Durham Freeway's interchange with I-40. The road markings are also visible.

On August 19, 2014, the I-885 designation first appeared in the October project letting for the East End Connector, which included new sign plans. The new designation was originally going to overlap with NC 147 between I-40 and the East End Connector, but it was later decided to decommission NC 147 from NC 540 to the East End Connector instead. The I-885 designation did not become public knowledge until the release of signing plans in 2014, though NCDOT had not yet received approval from the FHWA. Later sign plans from NCDOT indicated that I-885 was expected to be signed immediately upon the completion of the East End Connector, pending approval from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Construction on the East End Connector began in April of the following year. In addition to the construction of a short segment of new freeway between the Durham Freeway and US 70, the section of US 70 between Cheek Road and the Connector was being realigned and widened to six lanes. Work at the interchange between the Durham Freeway and the Connector was expected to be completed in June 2018, but work in that area continued past that date, as the completion date got pushed back to summer 2022.

On June 30, 2022, NC 147 was replaced by NC 885 along the Triangle Expressway portion and by I-885 between I-40 and the East End Connector.

Future
The NCDOT 2020-2029 Final STIP released in September 2019 indicates a project that will widen 3.9 miles of the I-885 segment of the Durham Freeway to 6 lanes at a cost of $1.8 million. Construction is scheduled to start in 2024.