U.S. Route 311

U.S. Route 311 marker

U.S. Route 311
Route information
Length: 102.3 mi[1] (164.6 km)
Existed: 1927 – present
Major junctions
South end: I‑73 / US 220 in Randleman, NC
 
North end:
US 58 Bus. in Bachelors Hall, VA
Location
States: North Carolina, Virginia
Counties: NC: Randolph, Guilford, Forsyth, Stokes, Rockingham
VA: Pittsylvania
Highway system
← NC 308NCUS 321 →
← SR 310VASR 311 →

U.S. Route 311 is a United States highway that runs for 102.3 mi (164.6 km) from Randleman, North Carolina to near Danville, Virginia. Along the route, it connects the cities of High Point, Winston-Salem, Madison, and Eden. The route can be considered an alternate route of US 220, which provides a more direct route.

Route description

End of US 311, in Randleman, NC

US 311 begins at the I-73/US 220 interchange in Randleman. Heading northwest, it connects with Interstate 74, at Cedar Square Road. In concurrency with Interstate 74, it bypasses north of High Point before heading west towards Winston-Salem. In Winston-Salem, US 311 zig-zags through the city, connecting first westbound on Interstate 40 and then northbound with US 52/NC 8, before exiting onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, then finally onto New Walkertown Road. Heading northeast along a two-lane road, it connects the towns of Walkertown, Walnut Cove, and Madison. West of Madison, it shares a concurrency with Future Interstate 73/US 220 briefly to Mayodan, then going northeast, through Eden, into Virginia, where it ends at US 58, west of Danville. The last two digits suggest that US 311 was supposed to be an auxiliary US route of US 11, but may have been never extended to US Route 11. This may suggest that US 311 is a stand-alone route.

Dedicated and memorial names

US 311 feature a few dedicated or memorialized stretches of freeway.

History

Established as an original U.S. Route in 1927, it originally traversed from West End, through Asheboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, Madison, and Stoneville, before entering Virginia and continuing to Roanoke. The alignment followed part of what was NC 70 and all of NC 77, both of which were decommissioned in 1934.

In 1933, US 311 was extended south through Pinehurst, Aberdeen, and Laurinburg, to Rowland, overlapping NC 241. A year later, US 220 was established and replaced US 311 north of Madison and south of Asheboro; sections further south were replaced by NC 2 (today's NC 211) and US 501. Later in 1966, US 311 was truncated in Randleman; by 1973, US 311 southern terminus was moved to its current location at US 220 Bypass, in Randleman.[3]

By 1952, US 311 was rerouted west of downtown Winston-Salem, following Waughtown Road, Stadium Drive, Claremont Avenue and 7th Street, to New Walkertown Road. In the mid-1980s, US 311 was moved onto new freeway through southeast Forsyth County. In 1996, the route through Winston-Salem changed again, going west on Interstate 40 then north along US 52/NC 8 to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive then east onto New Walkertown Road.[4]

In 1997, the first section of the "East Belt" was opened in High Point, rerouting US 311 onto the new freeway to Eastchester Drive then back into downtown High Point with concurrency with North Carolina Highway 68. The old alignment along North Main Street became US 311 Business. On November 20, 2004, the second section of the "East Belt" was opened, rerouting US 311 to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. On November 22, 2010, the third and final section of the "East Belt" was completed, linking Interstate 85; Also Interstate 74 was established as an concurrency of US 311 from Cedar Square Road to North Main Street.[5][6]

On September, 2003, US 311 was extended north from Madison to NC 14/NC 87/NC 770 in Eden, via US 220 and NC 135. However, it wasn't till August, 2011 when the extension was finally signed.[3] On November, 2012, US 311 was approved by AASHTO, after an initial request by officials in Eden, to be extended to US 58 in Virginia; which on January, 2013, NCDOT signed-off on extending the route and replacing parts of NC 700 and NC 770.[7][8][9] US 311 was signed in the field in Virginia, from Danville south to the state line (replacing secondary State Route 863) in September 2013. The rest of the new route in North Carolina should be signed completely by November 2013.

Future

In Winston-Salem, a project called the "US 311 Connector" plans to extend a four-lane urban boulevard from I-40/US 311 interchange to I-40 Bus./US 421/NC 150 interchange with US 158 (Reidsville Road). The 2.8 miles (4.5 km) new route would include a landscaped medium and walking/bicycle trails parallel to it. Estimated in 2003 to cost $23.5 million, it is currently unfunded and scheduled for reprioritization.[10][11]

Junction list

StateCountyLocationmi[1][12]kmExitDestinationsNotes
North CarolinaRandolphRandleman0.00.0
I‑73 / US 220 to US 220 Bus. – Asheboro, Greensboro		Southern terminus
Sophia2.33.7 I‑74 east – Asheboro, RockinghamEast end of I-74 overlap
US 311 overlaps with Interstate 74 (exits 84 to 55).
ForsythHorneytown23.838.363 NC 66 – Kernersville
​26.542.660High Point Road
Union Cross27.844.759Union Cross Road
Winston-Salem30.048.356Ridgewood Road
31.150.155 I‑40 east – GreensboroEast end of I-40 overlap
US 311 overlaps with Interstate 40 (exits 196 to 193B).
ForsythWinston-Salem34.555.5107 I‑40 west / US 52 south / NC 8 south – Statesville, LexingtonWest end of I-40 overlap, south end of US 52/NC 8 overlap
35.056.3108ASprague Street / Waughtown StreetTo University of North Carolina School of the Arts
35.857.6108BVargrave Street
36.358.4108CSprague Street / Waughtown StreetTo Winston-Salem State University
36.558.7109 I‑40 Bus. / US 158 / US 421 / NC 150 – KernersvilleSigned as exits 109A (east) and 109B (west)
37.059.5110A3rd 4th 5th StreetsPermanently closed as of July 2012[13]
37.560.4110B US 52 / NC 8 – Mount AiryNorth end of US 52/NC 8 overlap
Walkertown I‑74Future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway[14]
44.070.8 NC 66 (Old Hollow Road) – Stanleyville, Kernersville
StokesWalnut Cove52.885.0 NC 65 west – GermantonWest end of NC 65 overlap
53.586.1 NC 65 east – StokesdaleEast end of NC 65 overlap
55.288.8 NC 89 west – Danbury
Pine Hall60.897.8 NC 772 north – Sandy Ridge
RockinghamMadison67.5108.6
US 220 Bus. north / NC 704 west (Market Street)		North end of US 220 Business overlap, west end of NC 704 overlap
69.0111.0 US 220 south / NC 704 east – Greensboro, WentworthSouth end of US 220/US 220 Business overlap, east end of NC 704 overlap
Mayodan72.0115.9 US 220 north / NC 135 west – Stoneville, MayodanNorth end of US 220 overlap, west end of NC 135 overlap
Eden81.0130.4 NC 770 west – StonevilleEast end of NC 135 overlap, west end of NC 770 overlap
83.6134.5 NC 87 south – ReidsvilleSouth end of NC 87 overlap
85.2137.1 NC 14 south (Van Buren Road) – ReidsvilleSouth end of NC 14 overlap
87.7141.1 NC 14 north / NC 87 north / NC 770 east (Van Buren Road) – MartinsvilleNorth end of NC 14/NC 87 overlap, east end of NC 770 overlap
89.0143.2 NC 700 east (Fieldcrest Road) – Pelham
 94.8
0.0		152.6
0.0		North Carolina–Virginia state line
VirginiaPittsylvaniaBachelors Hall7.512.1
US 58 Bus. (Martinsville Highway) to US 58 – Martinsville, Danville		Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
  •       Closed/former
  •       Concurrency terminus
  •       Unopened

Special routes

High Point business loop


U.S. Route 311 Business
Location: High Point, North Carolina
Length: 6.0 mi[15] (9.7 km)
Existed: 1997–2009

Established in 1997, when mainline US 311 was placed on new freeway east of High Point, it was 2 miles (3.2 km) long following North Main Street from US 311 to Eastchester Drive. On December 2005, US 311 Business was extended south, through the downtown area, to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. However, on November 23, 2009, US 311 Business was decommissioned, a couple of years before the completion of the "East Belt."[5][16][17]

See also

References

KML is from Wikidata
  1. 1 2 Google (2011-07-02). "US 311" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  2. 1 2 "North Carolina Memorial Highways and other Named Facilities" (PDF). Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "End of US Highway 311". Retrieved 2012-08-25.
  4. ↑ "NCRoads.com: U.S. 311". Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "I-74 Segment 6". Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  6. ↑ Johnson, Paul (November 2010). "High Point Enterprise - BYPASS READINESS: Ceremony to mark opening of new section of U.S. 311". The High Point Enterprise. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ Payne, Latala (2012-01-29). "Preliminary plans begin for U.S. 311 extension". The Reidsville Review. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ Crane, John (July 28, 2012). "Officials hope highway change will benefit mega park". GoDanRiver. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  9. ↑ "US 311 Route Change (2013-01-22)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. January 22, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ Staff. "NCDOT: US 311 Connector". Project Details. North Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  11. ↑ Staff. "2003 Transportation Needs Document" (PDF). Project Details. Winston-Salem Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  12. ↑ Google (February 16, 2013). "U.S. Route 311 in Virginia" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  13. ↑ "NCDOT News Release: NCDOT to Close U.S. 52; Third, Fourth, Fifth Street Ramps in Winston-Salem Starting Sunday Night". NCDOT. June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  14. ↑ "NCDOT: Winston-Salem Northern Beltway". Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  15. ↑ Google (August 25, 2012). "US 311 Bus - High Point" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  16. ↑ "US 311Bus Route Change (2005-12-30)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. December 30, 2005. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ "US 311Bus Route Change (2009-11-23)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. November 23, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
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