WSTB

The sad part about this is I moved here in Fall 1999 and the first segment of the western portion of the Northern Beltway was to have started with subsequent sections to begin in the next half dozen years before that dipsh*t Robin Team & his renegade D. C. environmental law firm waged war for the last decade & half. It's that group the landowners should pissed about & suing. Had it not been for them, the entire damn Beltway would have been completed by the mid 2020's. An entire generation of time wasted.

I think you mean Robin Dean, not Robin Team. Robin Team is a developer in Lexington (father of Coleman Team of Linville Team Partners) and is a very stand-up individual.

Dean, Yes indeed!!! My apologies to Mr. Team, a true asset to our City.

Dean has absolutely nothing to do with the State of North Carolina taking peoples property without compensating them for it. THAT is why some of the property owners sued the state. Most of us couldn't care less if the beltway ever gets built.

It will soon be 20 years my family has been held in financial purgatory, paying taxes on property we can not improve or sell. Justice will be served eventually, and I hope and I pray I live long enough to see it.

And if Dean had not been the ring leader in filing all those bogus lawsuits, the State would have been in the position of moving forward with purchasing the properties & commencing construction of the Beltway. Until the courts cleared the way for the road to be built, the state's hands were essentially tied. Dean & his DC cohorts were the ones who could have given immediate relief to all involved by dropping their lawsuits and allowing the construction of the road to occur. I have the utmost empathy for all the property owners that have had to deal with this hellish situation. Now that the lawsuits are (supposedly) resolved, the state needs to move immediately to buy all the right of way for the entire Beltway at fair market value and let the affected property owners move forward with their lives. Rmhpmi, I truly hope your nightmare situation is coming to a satisfactory close sooner rather than later.

Another possible delay announced by the WSJ - why not declare W-S a no build zone.

Does anyone have a clue as too how far along we are in building the first segment from business 40 to hwy 158? Last I was out that way a couple of weeks ago, it looked like most of the roadway had been paved from 150 towards bus40. When will we see the elevated portion over bus40 completed and when can we expect this first segment to open?

As another year has passed and NC DOT has again been denied their continued request to posses citizen's property without compensation, here is a light read for those interested in how the legal system "works".

One day, gods willing, all of the affected property owners and/or their estates will see justice.

http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2017/11/nc-app-state-does-not-have-sovereign-immunity-from-takings-sovereign-immunity-must-be-juxtaposed-wit.html

And another take from Raleigh N & O

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article185829403.html

I really don't know how these NC DOT lawyers sleep at night

It appears as if another segment of this project is now funded and ready to start. I was in Orange County, on business, and of course I had to visit Winston-Salem for a construction update, which is on the way there. I usually don't photograph highway construction. However, I really wanted to know how far along they are, since photographic updates on this project are so rare. I rode past the construction site on the way to Orange County and on the way back home, since I wasn't sure if the travel lanes photograph was good enough to post. I thought I would try the U.S. 158 exit from Business 40 to see if any I-74 construction is visible from there. And WOW! That was the right move. It took me directly to a temporary concrete plant, created just for the highway, and I could see the travel lanes. I took a few very quick photographs, since I didn't have much time and this is actually a long drive (much longer than I expected!) to reach. It was also out-of-the-way to where I was going. I'm guessing it's in Walkertown? If you decide to visit this construction site, keep in mind it is a long drive from Business 40. I had to be in Orange County, so all updates from this trip were taken very quickly and many are drive-past photographs, when I ran-out of time for photography that day. I will admit to making a return trip the next day to see downtown, but had to be back in Orange County by that evening. The I-74 update is all drive-past photographs. I would like to make an actual trip to Winston-Salem, at some point in the future, to see everything and take my time with photography. Completion for I-74 is set for 12-14 months from now.

Temporary Concrete Plant: (I think this is a temporary concrete plant for the highway?)
43 by Matthew DuMont, on Flickr

Actual Travel Lanes:
42 by Matthew DuMont, on Flickr

44 by Matthew DuMont, on Flickr

Three new segments of the Northern Beltway are now under contract. When finished (in 2022), the new segments will link US 52 North to Business 40 (a.k.a. Salem Parkway):

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/th ... 19f3e.html

Photos taken on April 1, 2018 by MalmeRoads.com Contributor, J. Austin Carter:


Looking north from Bus. 40/US 421/NC 150 along Future I-74/Beltway alignment showing construction of support structures for future bridges.


Looking west down railroad tracks showing bridge crossing both the tracks and the new alignment of West Mountain Street.


A closer view of construction at the northern end of the project for the future interchange with US 158.

The level of arrogance NC DOT and the State of NC have displayed over the past two decades has confounded and frustrated my and many other families caught up in this mess. I am the third generation of my family to be held hostage by these apparently incompetent people, acting with “reckless indifference, gross negligence and bad faith”...



https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/judge-n-c-department-of-transportation-acted-in-bad-faith/article_de0c92c8-9a0c-53dd-b241-4d8fdc372933.html

When is the first segment opening? It seems to be so sluggish in progressing.

A new draft of the state’s road-construction bible includes the final segment of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, but many important road projects previously planned now face delays.

The document, called the 2020-29 draft State Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, will be put into final form this summer when it is approved by the N.C. Transportation Board.

Significantly, the draft STIP moves the final segment of the beltway, between Interstate 40 and U.S. 158 on the southwest side of Winston-Salem, from the “unfunded” category to a category projects starting construction in 2029.

https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/l ... 8513b.html

Hhmmm, sounds like we need McCrory back in the Governor seat.... he’s the one that got the beltway on the fast track to begin with, with funding!