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I-40, Business 85 to be closed this weekend

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Comments (11)

Friday, May 29, 2009

(Updated 5:52 pm)

Staff Reports

GREENSBORO — Large sections of Interstate 40 and Business 85 will be closed in Greensboro this weekend so state crews can pave the highways.

State crews also will close a portion of U.S. 29 as part of this paving project.

Weather conditions could impact the closure times and dates.

Eastbound Interstate 40 will be closed from Gallimore Dairy Road (Exit 211) to McConnell Road (Exit 226).

Northbound Business 85 will be closed between Groometown Road (Exit 119) and McConnell Road (Exit 226).

Traffic will be routed onto Interstate 73 and Interstate 85, south of the city.

Westbound Interstate 40 and southbound Business 85 will remain open.

On northbound U.S. 29, lanes will be closed from Interstate 40/Business 85 to East Lee Street. Northbound traffic will be detoured onto eastbound Interstate 40 and then to the East Lee Street exit (Exit 131).

Southbound lanes of U.S. 29 will remain open.

The roads will close at 8 p.m. Friday and reopen at 6 a.m. Monday.

Accompanying Photos

Photo Caption: Click on map for larger view

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mediaspeaks

May 26, 2009 - 8:21 am EDT

For goodness sakes, PLEASE stop calling INTERSTATE 40 "Business 40" and Business 85." The state has changed all the signs to just plain old I-40. It's confusing enough to try and drive through Greensboro.

Business 40 is in Winston Salem NOT in Greensboro.

Of course, when the state DOT sends out press releases calling the road "Business 40," it's easy to just copy and paste their press release into your paper.

Someday soon someone, is going to be seriously hurt or killed because of the idiotic use of I-85, Business 85, I-40 and Business 40 for the interstates. Last time I checked there were and infinite number of numbers.

Why do the state and local leaders refuse to use other numbers besides 85 and 40 for our interstates?

Michael Grossman

May 26, 2009 - 8:51 am EDT

The article has been corrected to reflect Interstate 40. We also linked to a previous story about the name changes for the interstates. Thanks for letting us know.

i7374nc

May 26, 2009 - 5:16 pm EDT

In response to the question why NCDOT insists on using the same route numbers as Business routes, instead of new numbers, for old interstate alignments: NCDOT insisted when this question was asked a few years ago while the Loop was being built, that they couldn't make the once again I-40 route between say the Loop and Death Valley, an interstate spur route like I-340, because the road didn't meet current interstate standards as mandated by the federal government. There are no standards for business routes. Of course, the same road was signed as I-40 for almost 50 years before they moved it and no one at the FHWA seemed to complain. Nor, it seems was there much difficulty in moving the I-40 route back onto the same 'substandard' highway, especially when NCDOT could now recoup federal maintenance funds it would have lost if the Business 40 designation remained. (Funds that are going into the next 2 weekends paving?) Most states do not do what NCDOT seems to like to do with bypassed old interstate routes. They make their old interstates into 3 digit interstate routes or revert them to a US or state route also on the same alignment.

If I were NCDOT, I'd do what they are doing, place I-40 back on its old alignment, but I would also drop the I-85 Business designation through Greensboro since most of it travels along I-40 anyway, and is not needed. The remainder after the split from I-40 to the I-85/I-73 Loop and vice versa could simply be US 29/70. The benefit to the traveler would be less confusion since this would get rid of another duplicate business route number. There already is a Business 85 just a few miles further south going to High Point and meeting back up with I-85 near Lexington (The Business 85 exit numbers that still remain include the mileage from this route, that is why they are in the 30s). Since Business 40 through Winston-Salem is also getting an upgrade, a switch to another 3-digit Interstate number at the conclusion of the project would help the traveler as well. The goal of a route numbering system is to serve the public by helping easing the travel of vehicles through a specific area. It's a goal that NCDOT sometimes seems to forget. It's this perception of lack of interest in the public's welfare, and mistakes, like today's releasing of an outdated press release and map that someone at NCDOT should have noticed, that has given the agency the less than stellar reputation that it has today.

Rolling

May 27, 2009 - 5:19 am EDT

How in the world are they going to repave all those miles in a weekend? Is this even needed? It seems roads are repaved in NC all the time that don't need it.

coasterguy65

May 27, 2009 - 7:40 am EDT

When the NCDOT completely closed "old" 40 through Greensboro a couple of weekends ago I thought they were going to start re-paving it, all I have seen is that they spent the whole weekend changing the exit number signs back to mileage marker numbers (211 instead of 14). Why did they need to shut down 3 lanes of traffic for that?

In regards to the whole 40 / Business 40 designation. If the "urban loop" is going to be designated as 840/ 73 why not just designate it as 840 instead of this idiotic 421 designation they are coming up with. Who in the NCDOT has a brother or sister in the sign supply business? I mean seriously 20 some years later people in Winston-Salem still can't get the whole 40 / Business 40 thing straight. Just ask someone over there for directions.

tledford

May 27, 2009 - 3:02 pm EDT

I have to admit that I don't see how in hell travelers who aren't already familiar with the area could *possibly* figure any of this out.

:-)

calondra

May 30, 2009 - 2:36 am EDT

for my job i drive through greensboro every night, southbound from virginia, and then northbound from charlotte a few hours later. i do this five days a week. i take the same route every day.

was there ANY indication of MAJOR road closures last night? NO.
were there ANY detour signs posted after i was forced to exit into a city with which i am not familiar? NO
did it take me EXTRA long to find my way to 29 north after getting stuck behind a tractor trailer that also detoured and was now stuck under a bridge on a seemingly major road through town (market st.)? YES

how is it possible for a major city to close the major thoroughfares through the city for an entire weekend with NO previous notice of such closures? and with no directions regarding detours once i'm forced to exit?

yes, i'm ranting, i know it, but this is RIDICULOUS! had i known about the closures yesterday, from one of the same flashing signs that told me of the closure as i approached it tonight, i could have planned accordingly and mapped an alternate route.

i'm done now. and SO glad i don't live anywhere near greensboro, n.c.!

telemetryunit

May 30, 2009 - 11:34 am EDT

calondra,

They don't want to warn you, so that you can drive by and see your tax dollars at work!

telemetryunit

May 30, 2009 - 11:32 am EDT

One thing that I heard is that they're going to call the 40 bypass 240, and continue to route 40 through Greensboro. It was great for a while because if you approached Greensboro from Burlington to go through town you had to take Bus 40 and if you came from Winston it was I-40.

What I'm really thrilled about today, since I work off 220 north in Greensboro and live in Burlington, is that east Wendover and 40 are closed. I can still get a round but it's a pain. And also since I came from Winston this morning you can't get to 840 from the west to pick up Bryan Blvd. I wish these people would think before they start closing off major routes.

i7374nc

May 31, 2009 - 10:34 pm EDT

There's already an I-240 in Asheville. You cannot repeat 3-digit interstates numbers within the same state. There are a lot of signs on the I-85 Bypass that say 'To I-40 East' or West. Maybe this is what you are heard someone referring to.

As for the paving project itself, unless they radically speed it up they won't cover the area they've listed from McConnell Road west to beyond the I-40/Business 85 split (and Business 85 North as well). From looking at the traffic cameras early this evening they had only paved and painted lane markings east of Lee Street and had not completed the paving as far west as where US 421 used to join. Unless they hurry up tonight you're probably looking at least an additional weekend of closings after the one scheduled for westbound I-40 starting this Friday night.

johnH

June 1, 2009 - 8:48 pm EDT

I am a motorist from Virginia, and I hava always found NC road signs to be somewha inadequate, but that is another story. Now you article says that I-40 was going to be closed for paving. That is inaccurate as I-40 and I-85 are concurrent south of Greensboro. It is the old I-40 route (whatever the current highway number is is ianyone's guess) that is closed for paving. I know this because I downloaded a map from NCDOT on the Greensboro Outer Loop (including the new I-840). Now for the detour that I had to take Sunday night to get to US Rte 29 North as I had left Winston-Salem, was a nightmare. I felt like we drove east half way to Raleigh before the detour took us west again on another road.

The use of the green Business Interstate signs is very confusing to out-of-state drivers, especially at night when one can't tell the colors. I don't know why the old I-40 in W-S couldn't just be US Rte 421 and let it go at that, forget the busines 40 junk.

Yes one of your commenters is correct, in that there can be only one three digit Interstate in use in each state. That means that i-240 can not be used in a second location. As I have read I-140 (Wilmington), I-240 (Ashville), I-340, I-440, I-540 & I-640 (Raleigh), & I-840 (Greensboro) have been assigned to projects.

Well while I was waiting on the N & R online to send me a password, I read another article of the changing of I-40 route again, making my NCDOT map obsolete. That is sheer stupitidity. Why couldn't I-40 just stay on the new loop? The drive through the Greensborro area has always been the biggest mess, whether comming from the south on US Rte 220 or from the north on US Rte 29, or east/west on I-40. I had just about gottent it figred out and now NCDOT changes it again.

I know that I can drive easier in Virginia, as VDOT does a lot better job in signing our roads and highways.