NCDOT proposes 2 interchanges for U.S. 70 corridor
(Triangle Business Journal, April 11, 2017)
State officials are in the early stages of embarking on an ambitious, $58 million corridor upgrade at U.S. 70 – one they hope means a safer, less congested road for future commutes.
Traffic studies from 2013 show between 33,600 and 59,400 cars drive the stretch on U.S. 70 between I-540 and Durham each day. Zahid Baloch, an N.C. Department of Transportation senior project engineer, says the state expects the traffic to double in 2040.
In addition to bottlenecking, safety is a huge concern on the highway, he explains. NCDOT’s analysis compared collisions to similar highways in the state – “our crash rate was almost triple that,” he notes. “What that suggests is, that due to the heavy traffic and congestion, right now we have safety issues.”
NCDOT is proposing plans to provide two interchanges, one at Brier Creek and another at T.W. Alexander Drive.
After some follow-on design work, NCDOT plans to present the plan back to the public in spring 2018. Right-of-way acquisitions would commence in 2019, with construction starting in 2021.
Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition, calls upgrading U.S. 70 between I-540 and Durham his group’s top freeway conversion priority.