Where:     Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, Eastern Half; US 52 near NC 65 near Stanleyville to US 311 east of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County Length:    17.1 Miles*** Needed:    Construct New Freeway

I-74 is to leave US 52 near NC 65 and be routed on the planned eastern half of a northern beltway around Winston-Salem (NCDOT apparently felt at the time I-74 was proposed that routing through traffic away from downtown Winston-Salem was important and that upgrading US 52 to an Interstate through downtown would be very expensive, though now it is has an unfunded project on the books to upgrade US 52 through downtown (U-2826), which, if completed would serve as an extension of I-285*(1)). The building of a beltway around Winston-Salem was first proposed in 1965 but wasn't seriously planned until the early 1990's. The first hearings over choosing alternative paths for the route were held from 1992 to 1996. All permits for the western half of the freeway, from US 52 to I-40, were approved and construction was set to start in 1999. (2) However in February 1999, a lawsuit was filed by 'Friends of Forsyth,' a citizens group that opposed construction of the highway, halting construction. (3) Though the initial lawsuit was thrown out, subsequent court decisions delayed the start of construction until a judicial review of NCDOT's environmental impact study was completed. With the review complete, the combined eastern and western-half Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report was released in September 2004 and public hearings on the report were held in November and December 2004. (4) The FHWA signed off on the final environmental impact plans in December 2006. NCDOT was to start construction on the western half in 2006 but announced in March 2005 that due to budget shortfalls work is to be postponed to 2015 at the earliest.** (5) Money saved from the postponement would be used to construct the eastern part, I-74, which was listed in the 2009-2015 STIP as Project No. U-2579, which was first scheduled to start construction by 2009. However, in 2008 another lawsuit was filed regarding the accuracy of the environmental study done for the western portion. (6) Since NCDOT had combined the west and east portions in the document sent to the FHWA, the lawsuit stopped any activity on the Eastern segment as well, even right-of-way acquisition. According to the 2009-2015 STIP, about $224 million was to be used to acquire the right-of-way while about $450 million had been set aside for construction, a total of $702 million. (7) This new total cost was substantially higher than that quoted in previous TlPs. The increased costs were due to a few years since the last cost estimate, higher material costs, and the agreement by NCDOT to build more bridges along the route to help aide local traffic and for environmental mitigation. (8) Construction was to start first on the 3.4 mile portion of the highway from US 158 (Reidsville Road) to US 421 (Business 40), the current cost estimate is $165 million. The 3.1 mile section between Business 40 and I-40 will start next in the fall of 2013 with a cost of $160 million. Work then will start on the 1.4 mile section between US 158 and US 311 in 2013 at a cost of $52 million. (9) The remaining segments are unfunded but officials are confident moneys will be found to complete them after the original three segments are complete. (10) A final alternative to what was originally called the Eastern Half extension south of Bus. 40 to US 311 was chosen in March 2005.  Construction is to start on this 4.4-mile segment after the other segments are complete. (11) The chosen alignment puts the location of the interchange between the Beltway (I-74) and US 311 to the east of the current US 311/I-40 interchange and between the Ridgewood and Union Cross Road exits. (12) The decision by Dell to locate a new company facility in Winston-Salem helped impact the choice of alternatives for the one chosen (N2-S1) kept the Union Cross Road interchange open to access the industrial park where the Dell plant will be built. Ironically, Dell decided to close the plant in 2009, before a final decision on the Beltway was made. The NCDOT Winston-Salem Northern Beltway website has maps of the chosen alternative HERE, along with a new Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement document released in January 2007. (5) The lawsuits were dismissed on May 20, 2010 by Federal District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder who said neither the Friends of Forsyth nor the NC Alliance for Transporation Reform could prove the environmental studies performed for the FHWA were inadequate. Before any work activity could begin, NCDOT had to resolve where the Beltway resided on its Beltway Priority List. When the list was produced in late July 2010 the Beltway was listed last, 21st out of 21 projects. This meant no work would start on the project until 2020, even work on obtaining the right-of-way, which citizens were promised would start this year. (13) Citizens affected by the ruling vowed to fight it. But NCDOT has 'hedged its bet' with the next Segment of I-74 by placing mileposts starting at the US 311 interchange with I-40, not where the Beltway is to tie in, in case I-74 ends up routed through downtown on US 52, or on an proposed extension on the US 311 freeway across I-40 and into Winston-Salem. The final decision on the priority placement will be made by the summer of 2011.

Supporters of speeding up construction of the beltway and upgrading US 52 north of Winston-Salem to interstate status formed the 'I-74 Piedmont Corridor Group' in 2003 and enlisted the support of former Governor Jim Hunt and to help lobby legislators and NCDOT board members to support the highway (2). In March 2003 the Winston-Salem Journal wrote an editorial encouraging NCDOT to build the eastern half of the Beltway (I-74) first arguing that there is less opposition to this part of the highway and the increased traffic on US 52 since the completion of the I-74 connector between US 52 is leading to increased traffic congestion and accidents in downtown Winston-Salem. (14) While the eastern half will now be built first it appears this segment, like many other projects statewide will be pushed back due controversy and shortfalls in the NCDOT's construction budget.  

*In November 2004, NCDOT released, as part of its Strategic Highway Corridors initiative, a map of existing and proposed Triad area highways showing an I-285 extending from I-85 in Lexington to I-40 in Winston-Salem with a note saying it would be extended to I-74 if US 52 was upgraded to interstate standards. (15) For more about I-285, go HERE.

**On the same SHC Triad map listing I-285, the western half of the Beltway, from US 52 (I-74) to I-40, is signed as  .

***There seems to be some confusion as to the actual mileage. The 2004-2010 TIP listed the distance for the Beltway from US 52 to I-40 as 12.6 miles and the extension to US 311 as 1.6 miles (for a total of 14.2 miles). Then the subsequent TIP listed the entire length as 12.6 miles (used in the map below).  The Strategic Corridors list says the mileage is 16.2. A recent newpaper article listed the distance as 17.4 miles. The latest 2009-2015 STIP lists the project distance from US 52 to I-40 as 14.3 miles. A document released at a public hearing on August 14, 2008 indicated the Eastern section as 12.4 miles and the Eastern Extension as 4.4 miles, for a total of 16.8. (16) This, however, doesn't include the interchange at US 52. A newspaper article number comports more to the combined mileage listed for projects U-2579 and U-2579A as 17.1 miles in the Final EIS for the Northern Beltway released in March 2007, so this is the mileage number I am using.

Here's a map and the timetable for the construction of the Beltway, from the Winston-Salem Journal, this was released prior to the NCDOT announcement of postponing work on the Western Leg:

If anyone has photos of the current roads in the vicinity of this segment, feel free to E-mail me.

A more detailed version of the map segment above showing part of the proposed I-74 route between Bus. 40 and US 311:

Sources: NC Transportation Map 2001; ADC North Carolina Road Atlas 1999, p. 43, p. 129.
(1) City of Winston-Salem. 2002. US 52 Corridor Study. Volume 1, January, p 1.
(2) Biesecker, Michael. 2002. "Benefits of a Completed I-74 Outlined; Building Highway will Help Piedmont's Economy, Hunt Says." Winston-Salem Journal. October 23. (downloaded from www.wsjournal.com). 
(3) NCDOT. 2004. Winston-Salem Northern Beltway Supplemental Final EIS-Project R-2247, Supplemental Draft EIS-Projects U-2579 and U-2579-A. September. pp. 1-10-1-12. (Available at  http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/wsnb/).
(4) Sparks, Jim. 2004. "Public Will Get to Hear Beltway Plans." Winston-Salem Journal. November 7. (downloaded from www.wsjournal.com, 11/9/04). 
(5) Sparks, Jim and David Ingram. 2005. "Budget Woes Putting Damper on Highway Projects." Winston-Salem Journal. (downloaded from www.wsjournal.com, 3/21/05).
(6) Young, Wesley. 2009. "Stuck in Limbo: Beltway Inaction Stymies Local Property Owners."  Winston-Salem Journal. September 4. (downloaded from http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/04/beltway-inaction-stymies-local-property-owners/news/ September 7).
(7) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Program, 2009-2015, Division 9, p. 9-20.
(8) Sparks, Jim. 2006. "A Steep Rise In the Beltway: Higher Costs, Public Requests Fatten Price." Winston-Salem Journal. June 21. (downloaded from www.wsjournal.com).
(9) Sparks, Jim. 2006. "Beltway Nearing its Final Hurdles." Winston-Salem Journal. December 26. (downloaded from www.journalnow.com, 1/12/07). 
(10) Sparks, Jim. 2006. "Eastern Leg Faces a Year's Delay." Winston-Salem Journal. September 8. (downloaded from www.journalnow.com, 9/8/06). 
(11) NCDOT. 2003. Winston-Salem Northern Beltway-Eastern Section Extension. Downloaded from http://www.ncdot.org/planning/pe/wsnbeltway.html April 7, 2003.
(12) NCDOT. 2004. Newsletter for Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. October. p.1, p. 3. 
(13) Young, Wesley. 2010. "Judge: Northern Beltway Can be Built Around Winston-Salem." Winston-Salem Journal. May 20. (downloaded from http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/may/20/201513/judge-northern-beltway-can-be-built-around-winston/news/ May 21, 2010).
(14) Winston-Salem Journal. 2003. "Northern Beltway." Winston-Salem Journal. March 18. (downloaded from www.wsjournal.com).
(15) NCDOT. 2004. Strategic Highway Corridors. Vision Plan Triad Area. Sept. 2, note 3.
(16) NCDOT. 2008.  Winston-Salem Northern Beltway Eastern Section and Eastern Section Extension Final Map Public Hearing Document. Handout. August 14.

I-274 Shield courtesy of David R. Kendrick's Shields Up!