List of unused highways in North Carolina

An unused highway may reference a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} or later closed^[10][11][12]. An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp^[13], stub street^[2][14][15], stub-out^[2], or simply stub^[16][17]. The following is a list:

Contents 1 North Carolina 1.1 Charlotte 1.2 Durham 1.3 Gastonia 1.4 Greensboro 1.5 Raleigh 1.6 Wilmington 1.7 Winston-Salem 2 See also 3 References

North Carolina

Charlotte

• Currently, stub ramps exist on Interstate 485 as a result of construction done to complete I-485 as a complete beltway. The beltway is currently complete from the Interstate 77/Old Statesville Road interchange in the north to Interstate 85 in the northeast. Although the highway is completed to this point, the interchanges will not be built at many area proposed exits until the surrounding areas have been fully developed. The last section of I-485 is currently awaiting funding and will extend the designation to NC 115/Old Statesville Road north of Charlotte, crossing over Interstate 77 along the way^[18]. Old stubs can be seen at the western I-85/I-485 interchange in an older map and are currently in use. Grading can be seen along the entire route until I-77 and NC 115/Old Statesville Road. [19] Stubs and grading also exist at the eastern I-85/I-485. [20] The beltway is not scheduled to be completed until 2012 or 2013^[18].

• With the opening of Interstate 277, there are residual bridges and pavement present along the former alignment of U.S. Route 74 (Independence Boulevard). Parts of this road are now known as Wilkinson Boulevard, the John Belk Freeway (part of Interstate 277), Carson Boulevard, Stonewall Street, South Street and Charlottetowne Avenue. A bridge that once carried 6 lanes of traffic is now a single lane ramp from eastbound U.S. 74/Wilkinson Boulevard to southbound Interstate 77. [21] Another multi-lane, old bridge was used as an exit for Carson Boulevard. [22] A sign of former Independence Boulevard is visible at Stonewall Street as South Boulevard transitions into Caldwell Street and Brevard Street, although this interchange is being currently reconstructed. [23] Independence Boulevard once had an interchange at South Boulevard, but this was removed during construction of I-277, where a replacement interchange was built. Independence Boulevard currently exists as a freeway/at-grade expressway serving the eastern areas of Charlotte, as well as the suburbs of Matthews and Indian Trail^[19].

• A now closed, stub ramp exists as a former on-ramp from North Graham Street to Interstate 277 north in Uptown. [24] It was closed after 1998 when the North Carolina Department of Transportation rebuilt and relocated CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern rail lines^[20][21]. [25] The old alignment can be seen here.

• Two stub ramp exist at exit 61 on Interstate 485 in the Ballantyne area of south Charlotte. U.S. Route 521 northbound was to have a flyover to head west on I-485 (the Inner Loop). One stub is on the on-ramp from U.S. 521 north to go east on I-485 (the Outer Loop) [26] and the other (complete with striping) is on the on-ramp from U.S. 521/Johnson Road to head west on I-485 (the Inner Loop)^[22][23]. [27]

Durham

• Grading still exists adjacent to Interstate 85 at the northern terminus of NC 147 for what was previously an exit for U.S. Route 70 Business / Hillsborough Road. [28] Removed in the early 1990s, this was a directional interchange that featured a brief overlap/end of U.S. 70 Business with I-85. Two bridges on northbound I-85 were removed; one crossed over an onramp from westbound U.S. 70 Business to southbound I-85 that entered to the left of the southbound lanes, and the other crossed over an offramp from the left side of southbound I-85 to westbound U.S. 70 Business . Here is the old configuration. Part of the original alignment of the southbound lanes is used by the new onramp from northbound NC 147. U.S. 70 Business/Hillsborough Road now runs alongside the interstate as a frontage road in the right-of-way of the former off-ramp.

• Grading also exists on NC 147 for a connection to U.S. Route 70 / Miami Boulevard. Heading from Durham toward Research Triangle Park, the road curves after Exit 10 (Briggs Ave). The bridges over Ellis Road are wide enough to handle three lanes of traffic, but are only marked for two. The southbound bridge is aligned for a left hand exit to the "East End Connector" to U.S. 70 and the northbound bridge is designed to handle the traffic to NC 147 north from the on-ramp. [29] After the Ellis Road bridge, the right-of-way widens. The southbound lane is higher than the northbound lane and the road is graded to accept a left hand entry ramp to NC 147 south from the connector that would pass over the northbound lane without regrading or reconstruction.

Gastonia

• Ramp stubs mark what was once a temporary endpoint of Interstate 85. The ramps shuttled I-85 traffic to and from U.S. Route 29 and U.S. Route 74 (Franklin Boulevard). The bridge that carried the I-85 offramp is now an overpass for Aberdeen Boulevard, a connector street that runs between Franklin Boulevard and Cox Road^[24]. Viewable at [30]

Greensboro

• Interstate 840 is a planned 40 mile (estimated) east-west route forming the northern half of an urban loop around Greensboro. It is currently only signed (albeit with a FUTURE sign) and constructed for 2 miles (3.2 km) and ends at U.S. Route 70 on the east end of the loop^[25][26]. There are mainline stubs on both the east- and westbound lanes for the future extension around the north side to the west side of the city to exit 212, where Interstate 40 will branch into Business Interstate 40 upon completion of the Greensboro Urban Loop^[26], though the I-840 loop is not scheduled to be completed for quite some time. Interstate 785 is also supposed to be concurrently routed with I-840 on the east end^[25]. [31]

• Interstate 840 is also being constructed through the western side of the city and will have a short concurrency with Interstate 73 as part of the Greensboro Urban Loop construction. Stubs, grading, and unfinished ramps can be seen at the Bryan Boulevard interchange, where I-73 will head west and I-840 will continue north^[25]. Construction is not to take place until 2013^[26]. [32]

Raleigh

• Interstate 540 was intended to be a full beltway around the city (based on mile markers^[27] and signage that was removed^[28]) and was known as the Outer Loop so as not to be confused with Interstate 440. The North Carolina General Assembly in 2005 approved the creation of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority, whose first project was the Western Wake Expressway, which was the portion of I-540 south of Interstate 40. In early 2006, the authority reversed the designation and decided that they wanted the entire stretch of I-540 south of I-40 to be a toll road. This led to the removal of I-540 ensignia and the posting of NC 540 ensignia. With this change, The North Carolina Department of Transportation would not have the money to build the beltway as a free highway until 2032^[29]. As a result of all of this, many stubs of pavement exist at I-540's eastern terminus [33] and at NC 540's western terminus. [34] There is also grading at the huge Davis Drive exit on NC 540 for an extension of NC 147 (The Durham Freeway), likely to be another toll road^[29]. [35]
• Three interchanges along the interstate 440 beltway are no longer a full cloverleaf configuration. They include the Exit 4 (Wade Aveue) [36], Exit 7 (Glenwood Avenue)[37], and Exit 13 (New Bern Avenue) [38]. Grading is still clearly visible.

Wilmington

• Interstate 140 is planned to be 27 miles (43 km) long. Currently, only 11.5 miles (18.5 km) are open to traffic. At the west end, from which I-140 is to extend to U.S. Route 17 near Spring Hill^[30], are mainline pavement stubs. Work on the next section from U.S. Route 421 to U.S. Route 74/76, approximately 7 miles (11 km), is currently not scheduled to start until 2009^[31], but there are many environmental issues, including another river crossing, surrounding construction of this section which could delay it^[30]. The final section, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from U.S. 74/76 to U.S. 17 near its intersection with NC 87 is currently not funded and work will not begin until after 2013^[32]. [39]

Winston-Salem

• There are stub ramps and ramp grading all around the interchange of U.S. 311 and Interstate 40. It was originally where I-74 was to come in from the north and utilize the High Point bypass but now, in long term plans, is to connect to U.S. Route 158 where it intersects with U.S. Route 421^[33]. [40] [41]. Long stubs where U.S. Route 311 intersects Business Interstate 85, U.S. Route 29, and U.S. Route 70 existed but the interchange has been completed. U.S. 311, as a bypass around High Point, is slated to eventually be Interstate 74 and construction was to begin May 2007 to extend this bypass to Interstate 85^[34][35][36]. [42] There are also ,

See also

• list of ghost towns

References

Lists of unused highways in the United States by political division States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal district Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) Insular areas American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands