Interstate 795 (North Carolina)

Route description

Interstate 795 begins at an interchange with US 70 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. From there the highway begins to head north through the northern parts of Goldsboro. The road passes Lane Tree Golf Course before having an interchange with U.S. 70 Bypass. After the U.. 70 Bypass interchange Interstate 795 begins to pass through the northern neighborhoods of Goldsboro before entering the eastern North Carolina countryside. Just after leaving Goldsboro the highway bypasses the small town of Pikeville. The highway runs along the western edge of the town. Interstate 795 has an interchange with Pikeville-Princeton Road before leaving the Pikeville area. As the highway begins to get closer to Wilson it bears to the west once again to bypass Fremont, another small town north of Goldsboro. Interstate 795 has an interchange with NC 222 The road continues to head north paralleling US 117 as it leaves the town.

As the Interstate continues through the rural area between Wilson and Goldsboro it has an interchange with County Road 1643 (Alton Road) near mile marker 13. The highway continues north for about eight more miles before having another interchange with US 301. Shortly after the US 301 interchange I-795 and US 264 merge onto one highway heading west. The four lane highway runs along the southern parts of Wilson which is very rural. The joint highway has an interchange with Downing Street (exit 42) west of the Downing Village neighborhood. As it continues west it crosses over Mill branch before having an interchange with NC 42 (exit 40) south of the Planters Trail neighborhood in the very rural south west area of Wilson. The road turns to the northwest to meet I-95 just a mile to the west. Interstate 795 ends at Interstate 95 at a four leaf clover interchange.

Beginnings as US 117 freeway

I-795 began as a new freeway alignment for US 117 completed in 2006, splitting from the old Goldsboro bypass (which still carries US 13) and paralleling the old two-lane US 117 roadway to the US 264 bypass south of Wilson. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved an extension of US 117, overlapping US 264 to I-95, at their October 11, 2002, meeting. However, the 1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) specifies that trucks over 48 feet (15 m) in length, including the industry-standard 53-foot (16 m) trailers, can only use Interstates and other routes approved by the state, which included US 70 but not US 117.

Push for Interstate designation

Rather than go through the time-consuming process to add the route to the STAA system, the state decided to get it approved as an Interstate. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) informed the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) that it would not approve the addition until a construction contract to correct a "high accident wet weather location" on the US 264 portion was underway. Immediately after the response from the FHWA, NCDOT added the project (W-5007) to the state Transportation Improvement Plan, but AASHTO denied the I-795 numbering at their May 4, 2007, meeting, citing concerns about the south end not being at another Interstate and the lack of FHWA approval. However, AASHTO decided at their September 28 meeting to give conditional approval, pending FHWA concurrence. The North Carolina Highway Patrol, which had begun ticketing overlength truckers on US 117 in mid-2007, stopped enforcing the ban on October 3, due to the AASHTO decision. The first I-795 signs were posted on November 28, 2007, replacing US 117 signs along the whole route. Most, but not all signage at the interchange on-ramps was updated at the same time. Other changes, including shifting US 117 back to the old route and changing exit numbers and mileposts, were to be completed by early 2008, but complications with the road surface and approval of moving US 117 delayed those plans to December 2009.

Problems with road surface and their remediation

In 2008, shortly after the road received the I-795 designation, major flaws developed in the route's paving surface. Though rated for a 15-year life span, the pavement began to deteriorate after only 16 months of use. During the planning of the road, as early as 2003, some engineers had warned that the thin pavement would be inadequate for heavy truck traffic. However, most NCDOT officials deemed a thicker road surface too expensive, as it would have added approximately $2.8 million to the cost of the road. At first, replacing sections that were damaged was expected to cost $1.6 million, with estimates for resurfacing the entire road running as high as $10 million. FHWA sent an engineering team to examine the road in its entirety in the middle of 2008. They found flaws in the pavement in the entire highway, not just those already damaged between US 117 mile markers 85 and 92. They recommended the entire asphalt surface be replaced with an additional 2.5 to 3.0 inches (64 to 76 mm) added to the width, at a cost between $15 and $22 million. Meanwhile, NCDOT started repairing the damaged portion of the road surface in October 2008, a process that was completed in about a month and cost around $600,000. The new state secretary of transportation, Gene Conti, said he would make a decision, taking the FHWA report into consideration, once he took office in early 2009. He decided to abide by most recommendations of the report and announced in the summer of 2009 that a contract would be let that October with the project starting as early as November 2009. The work, to fix the right lanes first, then put a finishing layer on all lanes, was completed in November 2010. In 2012, the National Asphalt Pavement Association awarded the repaired 8-mile segment the Sheldon G. Hayes Award, recognizing it as the best highway construction project and the smoothest road of 2011.

Goldsboro Bypass

I-795 formerly served as the temporary west end of the new Goldsboro Bypass Freeway. The 3.9-mile (6.3 km), four-lane divided highway was opened on December 16, 2011 and connects I-795 with Wayne Memorial Drive north of Goldsboro. The highway temporarily designated NC 44. On May 27, 2016, the 20-mile (32 km) bypass was completed, and NC 44 signs were removed and was re-signed as US 70 Bypass. The bypass now runs from its west end at US 70 from just west of NC 581 in Wayne County east to end at US 70 just east of Promise Land Road in Lenoir County.

Future

In 2012 the Eastern North Carolina NPO/RPO coalition proposed a southern extension of Interstate 795 from its current terminus, south along US 117 and NC 403 to Interstate 40 near Faison. In January 2004, a feasibility studied the idea of extending the US 117 Freeway (I-795) south from its current NC 581 terminus to US 13. The Strategic Highway Plan, list the Wilson-Wilmington Corridor as Corridor 50 and indicates the need to improve US 117 south of Goldsboro to a four lane divided access freeway. A study will include US 117 from US 13 to the boundary of the Goldsboro MPO. Currently US 117 between I-40 and Goldsboro is not at freeway grade, and many at-grade crossings would have to become interchanges or be eliminated.