Existed: 1927 – present Constructed 1927 | Length 164.6 km | |
 | ||
South end: I‑73 / US 220 in Randleman, NC North end: US 58 Bus. in Bachelors Hall, VA States: North Carolina, Virginia Counties: NC: Randolph, Guilford, Forsyth, Stokes, Rockingham
VA: Pittsylvania | ||
U.S. Route 311 is a United States highway that runs for 102.3 mi (164.6 km) from Randleman, North Carolina to near Danville, Virginia. Along the route, it connects the cities of High Point, Winston-Salem, Madison, and Eden. The route can be considered an alternate route of US 220, which provides a more direct route.
Contents
- Map of US 311 United States
- Route description
- Dedicated and memorial names
- History
- Future
- High Point business loop
- References
Map of US-311, United States
Route description
US 311 begins at the I-73/US 220 interchange in Randleman. Heading northwest, it connects with Interstate 74, at Cedar Square Road. In concurrency with Interstate 74, it bypasses north of High Point before heading west towards Winston-Salem. In Winston-Salem, US 311 zig-zags through the city, connecting first westbound on Interstate 40 and then northbound with US 52/NC 8, before exiting onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, then finally onto New Walkertown Road. Heading northeast along a two-lane road, it connects the towns of Walkertown, Walnut Cove, and Madison. West of Madison, it shares a concurrency with Future Interstate 73/US 220 briefly to Mayodan, then going northeast, through Eden, into Virginia, where it ends at US 58, west of Danville. The last two digits suggest that US 311 was supposed to be an auxiliary US route of US 11, but may have been never extended to US Route 11. This may suggest that US 311 is a stand-alone route.
Dedicated and memorial names
US 311 feature a few dedicated or memorialized stretches of freeway.
History
Established as an original U.S. Route in 1927, it originally traversed from West End, through Asheboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, Madison, and Stoneville, before entering Virginia and continuing to Roanoke. The alignment followed part of what was NC 70 and all of NC 77, both of which were decommissioned in 1934.
In 1933, US 311 was extended south through Pinehurst, Aberdeen, and Laurinburg, to Rowland, overlapping NC 241. A year later, US 220 was established and replaced US 311 north of Madison and south of Asheboro; sections further south were replaced by NC 2 (today's NC 211) and US 501. Later in 1966, US 311 was truncated in Randleman; by 1973, US 311 southern terminus was moved to its current location at US 220 Bypass, in Randleman.
By 1952, US 311 was rerouted west of downtown Winston-Salem, following Waughtown Road, Stadium Drive, Claremont Avenue and 7th Street, to New Walkertown Road. In the mid-1980s, US 311 was moved onto new freeway through southeast Forsyth County. In 1996, the route through Winston-Salem changed again, going west on Interstate 40 then north along US 52/NC 8 to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive then east onto New Walkertown Road.
In 1997, the first section of the "East Belt" was opened in High Point, rerouting US 311 onto the new freeway to Eastchester Drive then back into downtown High Point with concurrency with North Carolina Highway 68. The old alignment along North Main Street became US 311 Business. On November 20, 2004, the second section of the "East Belt" was opened, rerouting US 311 to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. On November 22, 2010, the third and final section of the "East Belt" was completed, linking Interstate 85; Also Interstate 74 was established as an concurrency of US 311 from Cedar Square Road to North Main Street.
On September, 2003, US 311 was extended north from Madison to NC 14/NC 87/NC 770 in Eden, via US 220 and NC 135. However, it wasn't till August, 2011 when the extension was finally signed. On November, 2012, US 311 was approved by AASHTO, after an initial request by officials in Eden, to be extended to US 58 in Virginia; which on January, 2013, NCDOT signed-off on extending the route and replacing parts of NC 700 and NC 770. US 311 was signed in the field in Virginia, from Danville south to the state line (replacing secondary State Route 863) in September 2013. The rest of the new route in North Carolina should be signed completely by November 2013.
Future
In Winston-Salem, a project called the "US 311 Connector" plans to extend a four-lane urban boulevard from I-40/US 311 interchange to I-40 Bus./US 421/NC 150 interchange with US 158 (Reidsville Road). The 2.8 miles (4.5 km) new route would include a landscaped medium and walking/bicycle trails parallel to it. Estimated in 2003 to cost $23.5 million, it is currently unfunded and scheduled for reprioritization.
High Point business loop
Established in 1997, when mainline US 311 was placed on new freeway east of High Point, it was 2 miles (3.2 km) long following North Main Street from US 311 to Eastchester Drive. On December 2005, US 311 Business was extended south, through the downtown area, to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. However, on November 23, 2009, US 311 Business was decommissioned, a couple of years before the completion of the "East Belt."