Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina Knight
I do not know if Interstate 26 exit 67 started out as a diamond interchange before United States Route 74 was routed onto its current freeway location in Polk and Rutherford counties. Roundabouts replaced signalized intersections on West Mills Avenue at least ten years ago.
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Oddly enough, no, it didn't. I don't understand the reasoning behind the long I-26 eastbound off-ramp, but the
creek between I-26 and the on/off ramps on the east side may have had something to do with that decision.
That interchange and section of 74 was built in the 70's at the same time I-26 was finally finished up the mountain. I-26 was open from the west to Saluda and from the east to Columbus in 1968 (I believe), but it took nearly another decade to construct the last section due to blasting rock and erosion/stabilization issues on the side of Miller Mountain.
It wasn't until 1994 that the current alignment of US 74 was completed through Polk County to Forest City. I guess the powers-at-be at the time decided no one needed to change direction from west to east and vice versa. It was probably the same person that decided the eastbound off-ramp at Exit 163 should
align with Fox Mountain Rd. instead of the eastbound on-ramp.
The west roundabout on NC 108 was constructed in 2003/2004, and the east roundabout was constructed in 2006/2007. It was an absolute
nightmare before the west roundabout was constructed. I swear to you, it would take over five minutes just to get from the KFC to the interchange (1/10 of a mile), and traffic would back up
into Columbus on the east side. Pretty ridiculous for a town of less than a thousand people. NCDOT is currently constructing a roundabout at the Pea Ridge Rd. exit on 74 to the equestrian center.
A
feasibility study for the interchange reconfiguration and widening of NC 108 was completed for NCDOT in 2006. The project (I-4729) has been split into two projects now: A and B. 'A' will reconfigure the interchange and construct the ramps. Surveying is complete, design is underway, and right-of-way acquisition is set to begin in June of this year. The project is scheduled for letting in August. 'B' will widen 108 in the "business district" of Columbus and is still a year or two down the road.
NCDOT Division 14 Tentative Let List - April 2017
As far as widening NC 108 to Tryon, it won't happen.
Too many people are already complaining. I agree that four lanes aren't needed, but the road does need improvements. There isn't a single turn lane on the road between Columbus and Tryon. Just adding a few left turn lanes at a couple of intersections would vastly improve the level of the service of the facility. Unfortunately, NCDOT can never make incremental improvements to a highway and has to do a full-scale-two-lanes-to-four-lanes-with-a-median-destroying-everything-widening, but they're saying that
four lanes aren't set in stone.