Work continues to enhance U.S. 70 ‘driving experience’

Johnston County, N.C., is where east-bound motorists along U.S. Route 70 begin noticing “Future I-42” signage. 

Upgrading the highway to Interstate standards has been a long, arduous process, yet it remains a high priority for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).

 

Partnering in this effort are several counties within the state’s Coastal Plain region – primarily Johnston, Wayne, Lenoir, Jones, Craven and Carteret. 

The goal is to allow traffic to move more quickly and safely between the capital city of Raleigh and the Port of Morehead City, while improving connectivity with U.S. military installations in Goldsboro and Havelock as well as the North Carolina Global TransPark (GTP) in Kinston. 

Highway bypasses around Clayton in Johnston County and Goldsboro in Wayne County have been built, so the focus is now on Craven County.

 

Construction work on the Havelock bypass is well underway. The Havelock bypass is described in detail as Project R-1015 within NCDOT’s State Transportation Improvement Program: 2020-29. 

Known by its acronym STIP, the 451-page document is NCDOT’s roadmap to the future, showing transportation project priorities and timelines. Areas addressed include a full spectrum – highways, aviation, rail, ferry, public transportation and bicycle/pedestrian. All modes of transportation, in a sense, are competing for a limited pot of state funds. 

NCDOT says the Havelock bypass will “be a four-lane, median-divided highway to provide a high-speed alternative to using U.S. 70 through Havelock, which is hampered by numerous traffic signals (14).” 

The Havelock bypass will be approximately 10 miles long and skirt Havelock along the southwestern side of the city. At its southern terminus, the bypass merges with existing U.S. 70 near the Craven-Carteret county line. The NCDOT says the bypass has a $167.2 million price tag. The expected completion date is spring of 2024. 

The James City project near New Bern (U-5713 & R-5777AB) is quite involved, as available land is pinched by the presence of the Neuse and Trent rivers and Coastal Carolina Regional Airport. This route presented a stern challenge for engineers to figure out a path.

 

As designed, most of the new 5-mile highway through James City will be elevated, so traveling will be “stoplight free” and like “riding on air.”

 

The roadway will eliminate five existing signalized intersections on old U.S. 70 by taking the new U.S. 70 up and over these side roads, while providing access via ramps. 

NCDOT says the cost of the James City project is estimated at $332.6 million. The targeted completion date is late 2024. 

Farther down the road on the timeline is a 7-mile stretch between the Havelock bypass and the James City project. This link (R-5777C) requires an outlay of $268.3 million, with U.S. 70 passing either “over or under” the three intersecting roads that now exist along the route. Completion is now forecast for 2025. 

Hence, the total tab just to get a new and improved U.S. 70 through Craven County is in excess of $763 million. 

That sum is “just a tad” more than the estimated cost of the “yet to be scheduled” Kinston bypass on U.S. 70 – $722.9 million. 

The proposed Kinston bypass (R-2553) has a length of 22 miles, extending south from La Grange and looping around the south side of Kinston. It would hook back into existing U.S. 70 near Dover.