I-795 signs expected to be up soon
By Matthew Whittle
Published in News on November 14, 2007 2:01 PM
Signs designating the new Interstate 795 between U.S. 70 and Interstate 95 will soon be in place, state Department of Transportation officials said Tuesday.
The route, a combination of U.S. 117 and U.S. 264, received its official interstate designation on Oct. 12. It is considered a spur route between U.S. 70 and I-95.
"Initially we're just trying to get some smaller signs in place along the shoulder of the road," explained DOT Highway Division 4 Engineer Ricky Greene. "I'm hoping that it'll be done sometime in the next couple of weeks."
Then, he continued, the next step will be to replace the larger directional shoulder and overhead signs along U.S. 70 and I-95.
"It'll take some time to get those ordered and made," he said. "I'm thinking it'll be some time in spring 2008. It's quite a bit of work."
But the first step is to start letting people know when they're traveling on the newly named road.
"The initial signs will identify 795 itself as 795," Greene said.
Then, once the I-795 signs are posted and all the U.S. 117 signs removed, U.S. 117 Alternate -- the old, two-lane U.S. 117 -- will be re-designated as simply U.S. 117.
Signs along the U.S. 264 portion of I-795 will, however, remain in place.
"It's a lot of work," Greene said.
Fortunately, he continued, all the sign changes should also allow DOT the opportunity to improve those pointing people toward and welcoming them into Goldsboro.
"We're trying to add some of those while we can and if we can," said Andy Brown, Division 4 traffic engineer. "We're looking at those signs and making sure they're saying what they need to say. We're working with the city and county to do that."
Interstate 795 was originally scheduled to have received its designation about a year ago, but problems with standing water on the U.S. 264 portion held that process up until earlier this fall. The designation will allow trucks longer than 48 feet long to freely travel along the route -- something that had been previously prohibited.