1. Route description

2. History
    East–West Expressway  Interstate 40 Business  Hawthorne curve  Brief Greensboro extension  Macy Grove Road  Salem Parkway  Downtown reconstruction 

3. Exit list

4. References

5. External links

• {{jct|state=NC|US|158}} in Winston-Salem (twice)
• {{jct|state=NC|US|52|NC|8}} in Winston-Salem

In the U.S. state of North Carolina, Interstate 40 Business (commonly referred to as Business 40) is an {{convert|18.5|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} freeway business loop, serving the cities of Winston-Salem and Kernersville. Originally known as the East–West Expressway, it was designated as part of Interstate 40 (I-40) and opened in 1958 becoming the first section of interstate highway in the state. Redesignated in 1992, and sharing a complete concurrency with U.S. Route 421 (US 421), it had a brief extension through Greensboro in 2008 and was officially renamed the Salem Parkway in 2016 by popular vote.

Currently, because of downtown reconstruction, a {{convert|1.2|mi||adj=mid|-long}} gap exists in the route between Peters Creek Parkway (NC 150) and John Gold Memorial Expressway (US 52). This portion is anticipated to reopen in Summer 2020, at which time I-40 Business will be decommissioned, leaving US 421 on the route.^[2]

Route description

Business 40 begins at exit 188 of Interstate 40 and exit 238 of US 421 in Winston-Salem. Traveling east, the route goes through the downtown of Winston-Salem, which has several quick on/off exits. It then continues south of Kernersville, before meeting back with Interstate 40 (exit 206) near Colfax. The entire route is 4-lane at freeway grade, it is also completely overlapped with US 421. Other Business Loops with a similar setup include Business 85 in Greensboro, another Business 85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina and Business 80 in Sacramento, California.

History

After the consolidation of Winston and Salem in 1913, the combine city was not only a merger of local government but a joining of two different road systems. By the 1940s, Winston-Salem grew to become the largest manufacturing hub in the state, thanks to companies like R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company; while multiple highways connected the city, there was no road that directly went from one end to the other without making turns and as a result traffic congestion was a constant in the downtown area. From 1946-1956, various traffic pattern studies were performed and plans created that reshaped the city for the next fifty years.^[3]

East–West Expressway

In 1954, Winston-Salem gave the state $1 million to buy right-of-way for what was called the East–West Expressway; construction began that same year. Though it was planned to become a new routing of U.S. Route 158, that changed two years later, when the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was passed and North Carolina was allocated {{convert|714|mi||}} for their share of the Interstate Highway System; {{convert|219|mi||}} was subsequently allocated for a route from the Tennessee state line, through Asheville and Winston-Salem, to Greensboro. With the designation of Interstate 40, the East–West Expressway would become the first completed section of interstate in the state.^[3][4]

On January 6, 1958, the first {{convert|1.2|mi||adj=mid|spell=in|-long}} section of the East–West Expressway was opened, connecting between Cloverdale Avenue and Main Street.^[5][6] Because of the novelty, local newspapers ran a series of stories and diagrams on how to use the Expressway, educating the public on how on-ramps and off-ramps work.^[3] Designated as I-40, the Expressway soon shared with US 158 in 1959, from Stratford Road to Marshall (westbound) and Cherry (eastbound) streets.^[7] In 1960, the Expressway was extended west into Yadkin County, at NC 801, and east to Reidsville Road.^[8] In 1961, US 421 was rerouted from Pfafftown and downtown Winston-Salem onto new freeway that connected directly with the Expressway, then continued easterly in concurrency with I-40.^[9] In 1962, US 158 was realigned to continue along the Expressway to Reidsville Road, its former alignment became US 158 Business (decommissioned in 1970). East of Reidsville Road, I-40/US 421 was extended onto new freeway to Kernersville, where it then linked with second built section of I-40 (late 1958) and continued towards Greensboro.^[10]

Interstate 40 Business

Since 1958, the East–West Expressway segment of I-40 has changed little while Interstate standards have changed considerably in regards to safety and faster speeds. In the 1980s, a study with the city and state concluded that construction of a new route was preferable to widening and modernizing the freeway through Winston-Salem. The state therefore lobbied a case to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that since this section predated the 1956 Act, it never received federal highway dollars for its development and construction, thus I-40 was incomplete in Winston-Salem. In October 1988, they were able to convince the FHWA, with Gov. James G. Martin announcing federal approval of $114.1 million for I-40 to be relocated onto new bypass south of Winston-Salem.^[11][12] In November 1992, the {{convert|20.89|mi|km|adj=on}} Winston-Salem Bypass was completed and opened; I-40 was officially rerouted at that time and a new designation was given to the East–West Expressway, Interstate 40 Business.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Hawthorne curve

Since its opening in 1960, the Hawthorne Curve, a 10 degree s-curve overpass of Hawthorne Road, became a infamous accident prone location; typically speed related, cars and trucks wrecking against the curve and in some cases jumping the guard rail and falling {{convert|35|ft|m}} off the overpass. Blame for the curve mostly fell on then Winston-Salem Mayor Marshall Kurfees, who is believed to have ordered the curve to protect political allies who owned businesses on Hawthorne Road and First Street. Kurfees spent the rest of his life denying the allegation, stating that the Engineers designed it while he had no input to the project. Over the years, several studies were done and various little fixes were made to improve the situation including reduced {{convert|45|mph}} speed zone, better guardrails and the installation of blinking lights and flashing warning signs. In January 1998, the first major improvement in 40 years started with the realignment of Hawthorne Curve. At a cost of $26 million, construction lasted for two years building a new overpass and removing the sharp curve to a more gentle one. It was completed seven months early in the Summer 2000.^[17][18]

Brief Greensboro extension

In February 2008, I-40 was rerouted onto new freeway south of Greensboro, becoming part of the Greensboro Urban Loop. The old route through Greensboro became an extension of I-40 Business, with a {{convert|6|mi|km|adj=on}} hidden concurrency along I-40/US 421, between exits 206 and 212. This extended the route {{convert|20|mi|km}}, ending at a new terminus with I-85/I-40, near McLeansville.^[19]

However, NCDOT officials received a lot of complaints by local residents and motorists on the confusion between the new I-40 and I-40 Business. Another issue was that funding for construction and repairs on the old route was slashed since it was no longer designated as an interstate (business interstates are not officially part of the Interstate Highway System). On September 12, 2008, with permission from FHWA, I-40 was moved back to its old route through Greensboro, decommissioning Business 40 through Greensboro (existing for a total of seven months).^[20][21]

Macy Grove Road

In 2012, property acquisition began in Kernersville for roadway improvements and extension/interchange of Macy Grove Road.^[22][23] In May 2015, the new interchange with Macy Grove Road (exit 17) opened; which features new road north of Old Greensboro Road and overpasses for both Norfolk Southern Railway track and Mountain Street before curving back to a roundabout with Mountain Street. This replaced Mountain Street interchange (exit 16), which was a eastbound left exit and westbound entrance with close proximity to NC 66/NC 150 interchange.^[24]

Salem Parkway

In 2006, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) decided rebuild to rebuild the freeway between Fourth Street and Church Street, which covers most of the original {{convert|1.2|mi||adj=mid|spell=in|-long}} section of the East–West Expressway from 1958. For the next ten years, NCDOT made several studies and a series of public meetings before awarding a design-build contract with Flatiron Constructors, Inc./Blythe Development Company Joint Venture and HDR Engineering, Inc., in September 2016, to complete the final design and construct the project. Considered as a $100 million do-over, the project includes: replacing the existing roadway pavement, modernizing entrance and exit ramps, replacing nine vehicular bridges, adding two pedestrian bridges, lengthening the acceleration and deceleration lanes between ramps, widening existing roadway shoulders and adding new shoulders and increase speed limit to {{convert|55|mph}}.^[25]

NCDOT had also decided that once construction was completed, that I-40 Business would be decommissioned and a new name would be given to the freeway with continued designation of US 421. The rationale was the continued confusion locals and travelers have between I-40 and I-40 Business. In November 2015, the residents of Winston-Salem metro area were allowed to submit a nomination for a new name, with a January 30, 2016 deadline. A selection committee, which include appointments from Winston-Salem and Kernersville, whittled the list to just four for another public vote.^[26] The eventual four finalist names were: Golden Leaf Parkway, alluding to the region’s tobacco-growing and processing heritage, Innovation Highway, showing the high-tech aspirations of the area, Piedmont Corridor, identifying geographic location in a highly developed part of the state, and Salem Parkway, which refers to the Moravian settlement founded in 1766.^[27] On October 21, 2016, Gov. Pat McCrory announced, at the project's ground breaking event, the new name of the freeway as the Salem Parkway; which was the overwhelming favorite, receiving 53% of the vote.^[28]

Downtown reconstruction

First phase of construction was focused on and around Peters Creek Parkway (NC 150), which included lowering the freeway to establish a minimum vertical clearance of {{convert|17|ft|m}} with the new Fourth Street two-lane bridge and {{convert|17.5|ft|m}} with the new seven-lane Peters Creek Parkway bridge. After two years of intermittent closures, the new Peters Creek Parkway bridge was opened on November 12, 2018.^{[29] [30]} On November 17, the second phase began with the complete shutdown of the Salem Parkway between Peters Creek Parkway and John Gold Memorial Expressway (US 52/US 311/NC 8); three alternate routes were set up through the downtown area for locals while travelers are encouraged to remain on mainline I-40.^[31]

During construction, Business 40 will be lowered to establish a minimum vertical clearance of {{convert|17|ft|m}} for the new Marshall, Cherry, Main and Church Street bridges; Spruce Street bridge will be removed and Liberty street will change from an underpass to a overpass as a result. The Broad Street interchange will be permanently closed and removed, Cherry Street interchange will be modified with Marshall Street, and the Main Street interchange will be modified to having only southbound on-ramp and northbound off-ramp. Two pedestrian bridges will also be constructed, one which will replace Green Street Bridge and a Strollway Bridge adjacent to Liberty Street. Reconstruction of the downtown segment is expected to be completed in Summer 2020.^[29][32]

Exit list

References

External links

• {{Commons category-inline|Interstate 40 Business (North Carolina)}}
• {{Commons category-inline|Salem Parkway}}
• Business 40 Home Page

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