Segment 17

Where:   US 74 from NC 41 south of Lumberton, Robeson County to US 76 near Whiteville, Columbus County

Length:   23 Miles

Needed:   Upgrade to Interstate Standards

Current Highway signed as: 
 

US 74 from NC 41 south of Lumberton to its intersection with US 76 near Whiteville is a four lane divided highway. A project to widen the road was completed in 1999 but did not include removing most of the existing highway intersections. (1) For I-74 to be routed on this road the current highway would need to be upgraded to Interstate standards by replacing several intersections with interchanges. NCDOT currently has no plans in the 2009-2015 STIP to upgrade this entire portion of US 74 but as part of the 2005 Federal transportation legislation, however they did receive moneys to upgrade the intersection between NC 242 and US 74/NC 130 (shown below) to an interchange. 


NCDOT first held a workshop on July 11, 2006 to provide local citizens with information about the work and a companion project to upgrade the US 74/76 intersection with NC 211 near Bolton (2). Another meeting was scheduled for May 27, 2008. Right of way acquisition started in January 2009 with construction, delayed since 2006, scheduled to start July 2010. (3) NCDOT as part of its 2006 press release said it planned to upgrade US 74 to a 'fully controlled access route' aka freeway between these two projects. This would mean for this segment upgrading about 7 miles of US 74 between the end of the US 74/76 Whiteville Bypass and NC 242. The cost listed for the entire project, $6.8 million, however would seem to be too low to include upgrading the rest of US 74 along with building the new interchange. (4) There already is an interchange built to the east as part of the previous US 74 upgrade at the intersection with NC 410/US 74 Business/East NC 130 that could potentially serve as an interchange for I-74, cutting down on the project cost.

In December 2008 NCDOT did begin a project (W-4704) to replace the current US 74/Old Kingsdale Road (SR 2210) intersection, about 3 miles to the east of NC 41 with an interchange. Completion is expected by mid-2010. While this project is officially not related to I-74, but as a 'Hazard Elimination Project', it could indicate a piecemeal approach of making the road interstate compatible by replacing the 7 or so intersections between NC 41 and US 76 with interchanges gradually over the next several years. (5) With the Old Kingsdale Road bridge complete US 74 will be limited action a little more than five miles after I-74 officially ends. 


Here's a photo of the construction so far at Old Kingsdale Road in February 2009 taken from US 74 East. (2/7/09)


Here's the view looking west from a closed Old Kingsdale road going west toward US 74. (2/8/09)

Here's what the construction area looked like in May. Photos courtesy of James Mast:

Looking at the grading for the bridge along US 74 West going the opposite direction. (May 2009)

Here's the same construction seen from West US 74, the first I-74 exit sign can be seen when driving through this project. (May 2009) Construction was to be complete in November 2009, but the latest Construction Progress Report has put the contractor behind schedule with a new completion date of April 2010.

This is what the bridge, now completed over US 74 looks like. There is still orange barrels, barriers and construction equipment indicating the bridge is not exactly completed. The Construction Progress Report indicated it was 84% complete at the end of September. (11/15/09)

The view from US 74 West shows that some more paving, at least, needs to be done on the bridge, though guardrails have been installed. (11/15/09)
Here is the path of US 74 in this segment, the dots on the map represent cross-street intersections to be closed or interchanges to be built:

Map courtesy of Nick Zachetti, the location of Old Kingsdale Rd is marked by an arrow.

The connection to NC 72 and NC 130 West will probably be made through one interchange due to their close proximity. No date in place for upgrading any other intersection other than NC 242.

Sources: NC Transportation Map 2001.
(1) Former NCRoads.com, I-74 Page. 
(2) NCDOT. 2006. NCDOT Workshops July 10-11 for Proposed Interchange Additions Along U.S. 74 in Columbus County. Press Release, July 6.
(3) NCDOT. 2008. NCDOT To Hold Public Meeting for Proposed Interchange At U.S. 74/NC 130 at NC 242 Near Evergreen. Press Release, May 13.
(4) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Plan, 2009-2015, Division 6, Columbus County, p. 6-9.
(5) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Plan, 2009-2015, Division 6, Columbus County, p. 6-12.

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