Interstate status being sought for U.S. 70 and 117
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 28, 2014 1:50 AM
A bipartisan bill to designate the U.S. 70 and U.S. 117 highway corridors as future interstates has been filed by U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield and Walter B. Jones.
Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr also are expected to file a Senate version of the bill soon.
H.R. 5561, or the Military Corridor Transportation Improvement Act of 2014, would enable improvements to the two highways that would better connect Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and the Port of Morehead City with the rest of North Carolina and the Eastern seaboard, Butterfield said.
Specifically, the bill would guarantee the east-west U.S. 70 corridor from Raleigh to the port at Morehead City would be built to interstate standards and get priority when money for federal highways is allocated.
The U.S. 70 Bypass around Clayton opened several years ago, and the first leg of the Goldsboro 70 Bypass opened in December 2011.
The completed 20-mile Goldsboro project will span from just west of N.C. 581 eastward to just east of Promise Land Road in Lenoir County. It is expected to be completed by the spring of 2016.
The federal legislation also seeks to connect the north-south Interstate 795 corridor from Goldsboro to Interstate 40 in Sampson County by ensuring improvements to U.S. 117.
I-795 runs between Wilson and U.S. 70 in Goldsboro. When first completed, it was a four-lane U.S. 117 before it received the interstate designation.
A study is under way on the feasibility of upgrading the U.S. 117 corridor from Ash Street to I-40 in Sampson County. An economic impact study also is being done.
"That is fantastic news," Wayne County Commissioner Joe Daughtery said of the bill's filing.
Daughtery, chairman of the county's Transportation Committee, said other groups and counties, including Sampson and Brunswick, had sent resolutions supporting the interstate designation.
The bill is supported by the U.S. 70 Corridor Commission, the Wayne County Transportation Committee, many local governmental entities, chambers of commerce, and regional transportation associations, he said.
What helped as well is the hard work of Durwood Stephenson of the U.S. Highway 70 Commission, he added.
It is unusual to see such quick action from the Congress, Daughtery said.
Commissioners last month adopted a resolution calling on Ms. Hagan and Butterfield to add the U.S. 117 corridor as the future I-795 to the road bills they had introduced in their respective chambers.
Commissioners' resolution calls the designation critical to the transportation infrastructure and economic development of not only Wayne County, but all of eastern North Carolina.
It is particularly important for improving access to the state ports at Wilmington and Morehead City, they said.
No action is expected until the next Congress convenes, but there is a "small ray of hope" that the bill could get through this year, Daughtery said. The bill can be considered as part of the annual Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, which might be taken up in the U.S. House of Representatives in November.
The interstate shield provides credibility for building I-795 and demonstrates that it is not "a pie-in-the-sky project," Daughtery said.
That is of particular importance when it comes to talking about borrowing money or seeking allocations for the project, he said.
"Improving access to eastern North Carolina is essential to supporting our military and boosting economic development and job creation," Butterfield said. "This plan will benefit eastern North Carolina by improving military readiness and commerce, stimulating job creation, and reducing traffic congestion."
Jones said the future Interstates would benefit the entire state.
"Eastern North Carolinians will have easier access to other parts of the state and there will be easier access to the port of Morehead City and our military bases," Jones said. "When interstate travel is made more efficient it will spur job creation and greater opportunities for eastern North Carolinians, in addition to easing traffic."