WSTB

On February 16th 2016 The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding the previous Court of Appeals decision declaring The Map Act unconstitutional and that it is an exercise of the state's eminent domain power, requiring just compensation to be paid to affected property owners.

Hopefully, justice will be served. I am not holding my breath.

Wishing that justice is served.

Here's the Capital City's Newspaper of Record's take on this local issue.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/ ... 94420.html

Funding for the eastern leg of the Beltway has been approved by the NC Board of Transportation.

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/st ... 38ae9.html

Anyone have any current construction pics that show progress of Beltway construction?

Finally, after close to 20 years in limbo, it is not just us who thinks NCDOT took our land without compensation.

I can't seem to link the article, but WSJ is reporting the NC Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Hallelujah and Amen.

The Walkertown-Guthrie Road bridge over the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway was completed last week, reopening an important secondary road connection in eastern Forsyth County that had been closed since January 2016, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

http://www.equipmentworld.com/ncdot-ope ... n-beltway/

Just an interesting tidbit.

MSAs with four 2-digit Interstate highways.

MSA rank 1 New York, NY 78, 80, 84, 87 (only NY), 95

MSA rank 3 Chicago, IL 55, 57, 65, 80, 88 (IL only), 90, 94

MSA rank 4 Dallas-Fort Worth 20, 30, 35E* removed), 35W* (removed), 45 (TX only)

MSA rank 20 Saint Louis, MO 44, 55, 64, 70

MSA rank 21 Baltimore 70, 83, 95, 97 (MD only - less than 30 mi)

MSA rank 31 Cleveland, OH 71, 77, 80, 90

MSA rank 34 Indianapolis, IN 65, 69, 70, 74

MSA rank 74 Greensboro NC 40, 73, 74, 85

What's the source for this? I-74 doesn't go through Greensboro; it goes through Winston-Salem and we're a separate MSA. Greensboro has 40, 73 and 85. Winston-Salem has 40 and 74.

I think Birmingham should be on that list, if it's MSAs (I-20, I-22, I-59, & I-65).

It's worth noting that Winston-Salem's MSA has three (I-40, I-74, & I-85). That is more than Charlotte, Raleigh-Cary, Durham-Chapel Hill, Greenville (SC), Charleston-North Charleston (SC) and the same number as Columbia, Nashville, Memphis, and Atlanta.

I-74 passes through High Point and into Randolph County; both of which are inside the Greensboro-High Point MSA.

Having several Interstates makes an area a good location for manufacturing and warehouses/distribution. It also makes a city a drug and crime center. It's not the number of Interstates, but the attractiveness of the city, other transportation options (rail, air, sea/river port, etc.), and how well the local economic development organization promotes the area and seals the deal with employers looking. Also, some Interstates don't leave the state they are in and others are just regional.

I compiled the list myself in about an hour, and so if there be any mistakes, they're mine.

I 74 does not go through the City of Greensboro, but it does go through High Point and Guilford County, which are in the Greensboro MSA.

My purpose was to prove and show that very few MSAs have four 2-digit Interstates and that the Greensboro MSA is way down the ranking of MSAs for those few that do have four 2-digit Interstates meaning basically only the super-sized MSAs have four 2-digit Interstates except for basically Greensboro.

I also did the ones with three 2-digits and there's a heap of them, the WS MSA being one with I 40, I 74, & I 85. It's actually close to having four with I 77 being just outside the MSA

You're right. I was thinking of the center city only.

Well, it seems I must admit error meaning after further scrutiny, I 77 is just barely inside the western Yadkin County boundary, and so I reckon the W-S MSA also has four 2-digit Interstates. Hooray, although it does seem that the four in the GMSA are right close to one another and two of the four in the WSMSA are a heap more spread-out. Also, Yadkin County is in an entirely different NCDOT Division than the other four counties in the WSMSA.

Interestingly, all four in the GMSA are, in fact, in Guilford County while only two in the WSMSA are in Forsyth County - I know, Guilford is bigger, but as mentioned, I 77 is a stretch (which, by the way is why US 421 from I 77 to I 40 should be I 477) and so is the new (now not so new) I 85 route a stretch for that matter.

It would be interesting to determine what counties (other than Guilford) have four 2-digit Interstates. That info is not readily available it seems, so, it'll take some digging.

A draft transportation-spending plan released by the N.C. Department of Transportation on Wednesday for the first time sets dollars and dates for the start of work on nearly all segments of the western leg of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway.

The segments of the western leg will still have to undergo review over the coming years to see where they stand in priority among road projects.

But the placement of most of the western segments in at least the last year of the state’s proposed 2018-2027 transportation plan is a big step forward for the project, according to Pat Ivey, the division engineer for the DOT division that includes Forsyth County.

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/we ... 06fd2.html

I am hoping somehow the four-laning of US 158 to 220 is expedited.