Winston-Salem Beltway
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This article contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available. |
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| Winston-Salem Beltway |
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| Length: | Northern Beltway: ~30 mi (48 km) Southern Beltway: ~15 mi (24 km) |
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| Formed: | Construction to begin in 2011 |
| Direction: | South/North (for I-74 and I-274) |
| Major junctions: |
 US 158 (Stratford Rd) I-40 US 421  US 52/NC 8 US 311 (New Walkertown Rd) US 158 (Reidsville Rd) Bus 40/US 421 I-40 US 311 |
The Winston-Salem Beltway is a proposed freeway loop around the North Carolina city of Winston-Salem. The eastern and western segments of this beltway, deemed the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway project, is the only project currently underway. The eastern section of the beltway will be used as the Future Interstate 74 Corridor and the western section may become signed by Interstate 274 (pending approval from AASHTO).
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[edit] Northern Beltway
If constructed as planned the "Northern Beltway" would be approximately 30 miles in length[1], beginning in the east at U.S. Highway 311 and ending in the west at U.S. Highway 158. It would be entirely within Forsyth County and would cross Interstate 40 twice and Business 40 once. The Northern Beltway would serve as a freeway connector for the suburban communities of Walkertown, Stanleyville, Rural Hall, Tobaccoville, Pfafftown, Lewisville, and Clemmons and would serve as a bypass for U.S. Highway 311, U.S. Highway 158, and U.S. Highway 52.
[edit] Southern Beltway
A "Southern Beltway" connecting the eastern and western segments in Forsyth County and northern Davidson County is in the inital planning stages, as its general proposed routing appears on some Winston-Salem Department of Transportation (WSDOT) long range planning maps[2][3]. As of January 2007, no preferred alternatives for this southern segment have been officially submitted and the North Carolina Department of Transporatation (NCDOT) does not include the Southern Beltway on its vision maps. The WSDOT plans for this final segment of the beltway to start construction sometime after 2030. If completed as planned, the Southern Beltway would serve as a connector for the communities of Midway, Wallburg, and Arcadia and would not necessarily be utilized as a bypass for Interstate 40 due to the freeway's southward dip. The southern segment would have an approximate length of 15 miles and would intersect Future Interstate 285 (US 52) near its midway point. Once the northern segments of the loop are completed, Interstate 40 through Winston-Salem could complete the beltway loop without the southern segment.
[edit] Status
Construction of the western section of the beltway was to begin in 1999, but was delayed by a lawsuit. After the legal situation was resolved, the NCDOT then announced construction would begin in 2006; however, in March 2005, the department postponed the start date again until at least 2012 due to budget shortfalls. Funds once allocated to the western segment have since been reapportioned to the construction of the eastern segment, which has a planned construction start date in 2011.
[edit] Trivia
- Winston-Salem is planned to be the fifth North Carolina city to have a complete Interstate loop; the other four are Raleigh, Asheville, Charlotte, and Greensboro. The Fayetteville Outer Loop is set to be complete around 2020.
