I-73 to I-85 to US 220 Urban Loop Greensboro, NC (Exits 3 to 77)

This video begins at Bryan Boulevard (Exit 3) in northwestern Greensboro, NC near the Piedmont Triad International Airport and concludes at Old Randleman Road in southern Guilford County. In the beginning of the video, the exit numbers are I-840's which is planned to run on the northern half of the Greensboro Urban Loop. In this video, you'll see the most confusing of stretch of road in the Eisenhower Interstate System. When the southern portion of the Urban Loop was completed, NCDOT had planned to move I-40 off of its routing through central Greensboro onto the new loop. This was to ensure that traffic heading to the Triangle, Wilmington, D.C., and New York would not have to go through the infamous "Death Valley" in Greensboro. I-40 was moved off its old routing and placed onto the Urban Loop in early 2008. The old road was renamed Business 40. However, many travelers and area residents complained to NCDOT for the confusion the new routing caused. In early 2009, NCDOT began to move I-40 back onto its original road. However, some shields, mile markers, and signs still indicate that I-40 is on the Urban Loop. Basically, the Urban Loop is one large mess (or... clusterf***) that is a pain to analyze if you don't live in the Triad. I hope you enjoy! Read on further for a brief history from Wikipedia:

In 1991, as Congress worked on reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Act, the Bluefield-to-Huntington Highway Association wanted an interstate highway, which would be called Interstate 73, to run from Detroit to Charleston, South Carolina. In West Virginia, the highway would run alongside U.S. Highway 52, which was only two lanes but was still being used to transport coal from mines to barges on the Ohio River. The influential Robert Byrd, at the time West Virginia's senior senator, chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, but even Byrd said funding for such a highway would be hard to find. In North Carolina, Marc Bush of the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce admitted the plan would benefit his area, but said it was not a priority.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) defined High Priority Corridor 5, the "I-73/74 north--south Corridor" from Charleston, South Carolina, through Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Portsmouth, Ohio, to Cincinnati, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan." This would provide for a single corridor from Charleston, splitting at Portsmouth, with I-74 turning west to its current east end in Cincinnati, and I-73 continuing north to Detroit.

In North Carolina, any new construction would require more money than the state had available, but Walter C. Sprouse Jr., executive director of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation pointed out that most of the route of I-73 included roads already scheduled for improvements which would make them good enough for interstate designation. A connector between Interstate 77 and U.S. 52 at Mt. Airy was planned, and U.S. 52 from Mt. Airy to Winston-Salem and U.S. 311 from Winston-Salem to High Point were four-lane divided highways. A U.S. 311 bypass of High Point was planned, which would eventually connect to U.S. 220 at Randleman. I-73 would follow U.S. 220 to Rockingham. Another possibility was following Interstate 40 from Winston-Salem to Greensboro. In Winston-Salem, congestion on U.S. 52 was expected to be a problem. The route through High Point was approved in May 1993.

http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/i73seg4.html#seg5

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[adogg619]

Wow, what an empty highway. I'm guessing this was filmed on a sunday. 

[CosmoPhotography]

@adogg619 Friday afternoon, actually haha

[wolfzslayer]

i am interested in i-73. hope every thing pans out for this project.

[ignitetwilight]

73 is a pretty quiet stretch of road in general, especially from bryan to the 40 interchange. to be honest i think there's been a lot of confusion, and many drivers avoid the area. i'm not complaining though - makes a quick ride for me! personally i'm glad to have the loop construction, though, because inner-city traffic has gotten very heavy over the years.

[lotwyo]

Is it my impression or NC highways are kept in better shape than SC and GA?

[CosmoPhotography]

@gotthkid2 I'm not in that social circle, but, yes, there are. How do I know? I have a couple friends in Charlotte who are "emo and goth".

[CosmoPhotography]

@gotthkid2 FYI, almost all of my family is from NY/NJ and I spent many of my younger years growing up there. I only create these driving videos to show people my travels and teach them a thing or two on geography and urban areas. I'm sorry you hate this state, but there's nothing I can do about that. Only you can try and make it positive. If you just sit around bitching about this and that then you'll just continue to be miserable. I encourage you to definitely check out Charlotte and Raleigh.

[CosmoPhotography]

@gotthkid2 So, I'm a redneck because I live in North Carolina? HAH! A classic redneck trait is not knowing how to spell, so... Well, look, pal, I'm sorry you don't like NC and its people. I, for one, don't exactly consider NC to be my ideal place to live either but it does have a lot of positive qualities. I think you need to get out a little more and find more people like yourself. Yeah, there may not be many but trust me they DO exist.

[adogg619]

@CosmoPhotography

Damn friday afternoon, I never would have guessed. The traffic is so light, it's almost creepy.