Segment 16


 Where:   US 74 from Laurinburg Bypass to NC 41 south of Lumberton, Robeson County

Length:   Approx. 20 Miles, 6+ Miles Open to Traffic

Needed:   Construct Remainder of New Freeway

Open Route signed as: , the remainder  

From the end of the current US 74 Laurinburg-Maxton Bypass near Alma, to just before its intersection with Interstate 95 near Lumberton, US 74 is currently a two lane highway. NCDOT plans to reroute US 74 in this section onto a "4-lane divided facility on new location" south of the existing highway. Though this contract statement made it unclear as to whether this roadway would be an interstate when the project was announced, both press reports and NCDOT's own documents, along with new mileposts and signage installed along the road near Maxton since then indicate it will be I-74 upon completion. (1) The project is listed in the NCDOT 2009-2015 STIP as Number R-513. (2)  Construction, originally scheduled to start in 2007, was pushed up to late 2004 with NCDOT borrowing funds that will be paid back out of program accounts when completed. The contract for the project was awarded in two parts on November 5, 2004. The first part is constructing 11 miles of the freeway from Henry Berry Road southeast of Pembroke to NC 41 south of Lumberton. The second part is building the remaining 9 miles from Pembroke to the end of the US 74 Laurinburg-Maxton Bypass in Alma. Construction started on November 29, 2004. The project includes building a new cloverleaf interchange with I-95 (Exit 13) 1/2 mile south of the existing US 74 exit (Exit 14), which will be eliminated and, in anticipation, the onramps were permanently closed to US 74 traffic on October 31, 2006. (2) Lane closures have also occured on I-95 as part of this part of the project during 2006 and 2007 for constructing the future interchange and the bridge that will carry I-74 over I-95.(3) As of July 2007 traffic is using the future southbound I-95 lanes while the northbound lanes are widened to accomodate the I-74 bridge and ramps (see photo below). In April 2006 parts of four roads (Dallas Road (SR 2235), Emery Road (SR 2416), Clover Road (SR 2500) and Thompson Road (SR 2417)) were closed near the I-95 interchange to facilitate its construction. In May additional closures of Briarcliff Lane where it meets US 74 and Sanchez Road at its intersection with KB Road were announced. The closures will last until 2008. (4,5) The total cost of the project is now estimated at $238 million (6). The estimated date of completion is December 2008, though work is proceeding ahead of schedule at least on the western half of the project where, in early June 2008, 97.1% of the contract was complete, while it was projected only 86% should be at that time (the other part is slightly behind schedule where 89.1% was complete instead of the projected 90%).(4,7,8,9) An NCDOT official in January 2007 indicated the project could be completed a month earlier, by November 2008.(10) On November 30, 2007 a ribbon-cutting ceremony preceded the opening of a 6-mile section from the end of the Maxton Bypass to NC 710. (11) In July 2007 NCDOT put up what will be the first I-74 exit signs along the route at the end of the Maxton Bypass (see photo below). The signs were for the future Alternate US 74 East. The photos below were taken after the route to NC 710 was opened November 30 (the route is officially open to local traffic only, to access it you have to take the Business 74 exit (220A) and then cross the highway and get on the eastbound onramp, the speed limit is temporarily 55 mph, it will be increased to 70 when the highway is completely open).

     

First I-74 exit signs for the new US 74 (future Alt US 74)/US 74 Business interchange at the end of the Maxton bypass. (August 2007). Photo courtesy of Nick Hudson.


Signage at the present beginning of I-74 at NC 710 south of Pembroke. I-74 is signed as an interstate despite not starting currently at another one.

A wider look at the bridge and the existing NC 710 interchange.


This is looking east from NC 710 the road is basically complete except for signage and line markings.

This is the first I-74/US 74 signage combination you see after the NC 710 onramp.

A closer look at this unique combination, the first time and interstate and a US route with the same number are signed on the same highway.

Here's a Junction I-74/US 74 sign assembly at the Cabinet Shop Road Exit (223).

Here's a sign for the NC 710 interchange (Exit 226), the last exit going eastbound.

Here's the western end of the opened road at the Business US 74/Alternate US 74 interchange (Exit 220) (there is only one ramp westbound vs. two east.

The exit leads to this possibly confusing sign assembly, Business 74 goes toward Maxton and predates the current construction, Alternate 74 will replace the current US 74 when construction is complete.

This also may be a future confusing sign complex for some people. This is the ramp to East I-74/US 74 at the end of Business US 74 and the beginning of Alternate US 74.
The new freeway at its eastern end will tie into the existing four-lane segment which starts 1/2 mile west of the NC 41 exit.   These other photos show the progress in constructing the I-95/I-74 interchange in early August through November 2007.

 
Looking south at the future I-95/I-74 interchange from current US 74, the current interchange is now closed. (August 2007)


Here's another photo showing the I-95/I-74 interchange, as you can tell a lot of work is still needed. Photo courtesy of Nick Hudson.
 

Here's a look at the progress at the east end of the project as of November 2007, clearly not as advanced as the west end and thus not likely to open until late next year (photo courtesy of Rodney Gardner).
Another NCDOT Project related to this segment is Number K-4002 which will build a Rest Area on I-74 east of the I-95 interchange. The project is listed for 'planning and environmental study only' and thus has no official timetable or cost, but certainly won't start until after the I-74 is completed in 2008. (13)

During 2000 several Future I-74 Corridor signs were put up along the stretch of existing US 74 the project will bypass, like the one below.


Photo courtesy of Adam Prince

Several local politicians, at the urging of area citizens, are recommending that NCDOT name the new highway the American Indian Freeway due to the large native american population in Robeson County. Many local citizens have complained that the current US 74's designation as the Andrew Jackson highway is inappropriate. Under the current proposal the Jackson highway name would be retained on the old route after the freeway is built. (14)

According to NCDOT Contract Documents (15), these will be the following exits on this segment of I-74. New numbers based on a corrected 2008 spreadsheet from NCDOT (16) are in ( ), these may not be the final correct numbers, either, for what I believe should be the exit numbers, see the I-74 Exit List:
Exit 220 (208) US 74 Alternate/US 74 Business
Exit 223 (211) Cabinet Shop Rd
Exit 226 (214) NC 710 Pembroke Red Springs
Exit 230 (218) Dew Road Pembroke
Exit 234 (222) Back Swamp Rd
Exit 235 (223) I-95/US 301 Fayetteville Florence
Exit 237 (225) US 74 Alternate
Exit 239 (227) NC 41 Lumberton Fairmont

Here is a more close up look of the Segment, the part from Alma to NC 710 opened November 30, 2007.:


Map overlay of aerial image courtesy of Rodney Gardner.

Sources: American Map Atlas 2006, North Carolina Map. NCRoads (http://www.ncroads.com/interst/ih074.htm).
(1) Whiteacre, Diane. 2003. Commentary; "Piece by Piece, I-73 and I-74 Take Shape". Charlotte Observer. May 25. Dowloaded from http://www.charlotte.com May 27.
(2) NCDOT. 2006. "US 74 Ramps to I-95 North to Permanently Close." Press Release. October 24.
(3) Ventolo, Michael. 2006. "Mystery Bridge Stumps at I-95/US 74 in NC." Post to misc.transport.road newsgroup, Jan 15.
(4) Pritchard, Catherine. 2006. "Work to Close Parts of Four Roads." Fayetteville (NC) Observer: April 2.
(5) Pritchard, Catherine. 2006. "Drivers Slowed on NC 87." Fayetteville (NC) Observer: May 6.
(6) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Program, 2009-2015, Division 6, p. 6-35.
(7) Williams, Rochelle. 2004. "State Awards I-74 Contract." Fayetteville (NC) Observer. November 5. Downloaded from
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=local&Story=6632400 November 5, 2004.
(8) Witten, Scott. 2004. "'Death Strip' on U.S. 74 Schedulled for 4 Lanes." The Robesonian. June 7. Downloaded from http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2004/06/07/news/news/story04.txt July 27, 2004.
(9) NCDOT. 2008. Construction Progress Report, Contracts 200893 and 200970. Downloaded from:
http://apps.dot.state.nc.us/traffictravel/progloc/ProgLocSearch.aspx, accessed 6/17/08.
(10) Ross, Roxanna. 2007. "Bridge Work Means Detour on U.S 74." The Robesonian (Lumberton, NC). January 22.
(11) NCDOT. 2007.  "NCDOT Cuts Ribbon on New Section of I-74 in Robeson County." Press Release. November 30.
(12) Personal e-mail from Rodney Gardner, July 30, 2007 who had traveled along US 74 the weekend of July 28-29, 2007.
(13) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Program, 2009-2015, Division 6, p. 6-40.
(14) Williams, Allison. 2007. "Highway is a Reminder of Indian History." Fayetteville (NC) Observer. May 7.
(15) NCDOT. 2004. Contract Documents, NCDOT Traffic Engineering Branch, Contract C200893, Project R-0513.
Downloaded from: http://dotw-xfer01.dot.state.nc.us/dsplan/2004%20Highway%20Lettings/11-16-2004/ under the Plans and Proposals link on 2/23/07.
(16) NCDOT. 2007. I-74 Mileposts. Spreadsheet sent from Jeff Weller, NCDOT Signing Standards Design Engineer via e-mail 1/18/08.

I-74/US 74 shields courtesy of David R. Kendrick's Shield's Up!.